The Rio Grande Port breakwater, Brazil: geotechnical design

Brazil is stimulating innovation in near-shore works design as part of its current effort to invest, extend and build new infrastructure facilities. The Rio Grande Port expansion project in the south is a strategic investment requiring the extension of the existing 20 m high, 3·2 km long parallel marine breakwaters that protect the entrance to the lagoon and port area by a total of over 1 km. The project involved an extensive geotechnical site investigation to characterise the site's soft clay deposits. Field performance during and after embankment construction was monitored to check the design hypothesis, evaluate uncertainties and ensure the work conformed to acceptable limits of behaviour. Numerical back-analysis of each construction stage enabled the design to be optimised during construction. The works were successfully completed in 2012.