Hydraulic loads on a large lock gate

In the Dutch city of IJmuiden, a new ship sea lock is currently under construction. With a lock chamber of 500 m long and 70 m wide, it will be the largest sea lock in the world. With this sea lock, the latest generation of seagoing vessels will be able to access the harbour of Amsterdam.

The lock closes with sliding gates constructed in steel. When operated, the motion of water in and around the gate exerts loads that need to be overcome by the attenuator mechanism.

This paper will present the results of loads on the gates of IJmuiden. Processes considered are the piston-effect (water motion driven by gate motion) and wave loads.