MEMO ADDRESS COWI A/S

Parallelvej 2
2800 Kongens Lyngby
TITLE Al Faw Grand Port Stage 0, Detailed Design of Eastern Denmark
Breakwater & Staging Pier - Quarry run, transition layer
TEL +45 56 40 00 00
and core material
FAX +45 56 40 99 99
DATE 13 May 2013 WWW cowi.com
TO Archirodon Construction (Overseas) Co. S.A.
FROM COWI (prepared by NAGE) PAGE 1/9

PROJECT NO A035823

1 Introduction

This Memo gives a brief indication of the materials to be used for quarry run and the
transition layer.

Quarry run will be used as core for the Eastern Breakwater from CH. 250 to 3,900 and
as toe protection. The quarry run will furthermore act as filter under the main rock
armour (to comply with filter criteria) and as toe foundation if placed directly on the
seabed.

The transition layer will constitute the general foundation of the breakwater.

Both toe protection and foundation materials in the form of quarry run and transition
layer are to be stable against frequent current speeds and the quarry run shall
furthermore be stable against wave induced longshore transport along the breakwater.

2 Quarry run

2.1 Breakwater core (Quarry Run C1)

The minimum requirement for the quarry run to be used as core of the breakwater
from CH. 250 to CH. 3,900, referred to as Quarry Run C1, is given by the compliance
with the filter criteria (British Standard BS6349 - Part 7, Section 4.4.3)

Terzaghi filter criteria:

› D15a /D85u < 4

› 1 < D15a /D15u < 20-25

Thomsen and Shuttler criteria:

› D50a /D50u < 7

where:

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Dxx is the sieve rock diameter

u denotes underlayer, and
a denotes armour

As the largest gradation to be used for the main rock armour is the 2-5 t with gradation
as presented in Table 1, this leads to the minimum requirements given in Table 2.

Table 1 Gradations 2-5 ton rock based on CIRIA Rock manual 2007

Min Average Max

Dn15 (m) 0.95 0.97 1.00
Dn50 (m) 1.07 1.10 1.13
Dn85 (m) 1.16 1.19 1.23

Table 2 Minimum gradation limits for Quarry Run C1

15 50 85
Dn (m) 0.05 0.16 0.31
W (kg) 0.30 10.0 69.3

From CH. 3,900-8,205, Quarry Run C1 is used as underlayer below the main rock
armour. Considering that the smallest armour rock to be placed on the Quarry Run C1
is 60-300 kg, the maximum size of Quarry Run C1 has been taken as 300 kg.

In addition, quarry run used as core and/or filter material shall meet the following
requirement to uniformity:

› U = D60 /D10 < 10 (W60/W10 < 1,000)

The overall requirements to the gradation of Quarry Run C1 are presented in Table 3
and Figure 1.

Table 3 Quarry Run C1 gradation limits

Percent W (kg) W (kg)

passing lower upper
0 0.01 0.5
15 0.30 2.0
50 10.0 30
85 69 200
100 100 300

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Figure 1 Quarry Run C1 gradation envelope (upper and lower gradation curves)

On the temporary port side of the Eastern Breakwater (from shore to the Staging Pier),
which will be reclaimed during later port construction stage, Quarry Run C1 will be
used as toe protection. There is not extensive literature, which enables to determine
longshore transport of quarry run used at the toe of a breakwater. Nevertheless, an
indication of the magnitude of the longshore transport can be obtained by using the
following from CIRIA Special Publication 83/CUR Report, valid for Hs/∆Dn50>10:

For Hs/∆Dn50 < 10, the above formula can lead to underestimation of the longshore
transport, if any, thus the following can be used (Van der Meer, "Singular points at
berm breakwaters […], Longshore transport, 1991):

S(x) = 0 for HoTop < 105;

S(x) = 0.00005 (HoTop - 105)2

with Ho = Hs/∆Dn50 and Top = Tp (g/Dn50)0.5

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The above is valid only for wave incidence angles between 15° and 40°. For larger and
smaller wave obliqueness, the formula above overestimates the sediment transport and
can be misleading. In order to obtain an order of magnitude of the longshore transport
for also larger wave incidence angles, the above formula has been used together with a
reduced wave height according to the Galland formula.

For the west (port) side of the Eastern Breakwater this leads to the following:

Table 4 Longshore transport assessment of Quarry Run C1 at west (port) side toe of Eastern
Breakwater for Hs/∆Dn50 < 10 (expected overestimation in italic)

Location (wave extraction point) W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8

Chainage (m) 7,499 7,024 5,926 5,116 4,065 3,920 3,776
Incidence angle (up to toe) 74° 73° 73° 72° 71° 18° 20°
To 1.8 2.0 2.0 2.1 2.2 3.9 3.9
Hs'/∆Dn 44.14 44.14 44.13 44.17 44.19 29.33 29.39
HoTo < 105 79 88 89 94 97 113 114
Longshore transport none none none none none limited Limited

Location (wave extraction point) W9 W9_bis W10 W11 W12 W13 W14 W14_bis
Chainage (m) 2,804 2,431 1,654 1,459 1,330 1,062 764 490
Incidence angle (up to toe) 22° 21° 22° 22° 17° 11° 6° 7°
To 4.2 4.4 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.6
Hs'/∆Dn 30.26 30.91 31.31 31.27 31.18 31.10 31.30 31.72
HoTo < 105 128 136 141 141 141 138 142 147
Longshore transport limited limited limited limited limited limited limited limited

The results above indicate a limited sediment transport of Quarry Run C1 along the
outer half of the west (port) side of the Eastern Breakwater. Yet, it should be noted
that the formulas used for estimation of longshore transport, do not consider the water
depth (i.e. the quarry run is considered directly exposed to the waves and not as
located underwater at the toe). Thus, longshore transport of Quarry Run C1 along the
west (port) side of the Eastern Breakwater, if any, is considered to be insignificant.

2.2 Seaside toe and berm foundation (Quarry Run C2)

The quarry run material to be used as foundation for the east (sea) side berm, referred
to as Quarry Run C2, is in addition to Quarry Run C1 for the breakwater core
characterized by the presence of fines necessary to avoid punching of the rocks into
the natural seabed. Quarry Run C2 is placed directly at the seabed and furthermore
works as toe protection.

The gradation requirements for Quarry Run C2 are presented in Table 5 and Figure 2.

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Table 5 Quarry Run C2 gradation limits

Percent W (kg) W (kg)

passing lower upper
0 0.1
10 0.01
15 0.10 1.0
50 5.0 30
85 20 100
100 30 200

Figure 2 Quarry Run C2 envelope (upper and lower gradation curves)

Quarry Run C2 will be used as toe/berm foundation on the east (sea) side of the
Eastern Breakwater and will be extending approximately 2-3 m beyond the overlying
rock armour of the berm. Similarly as for the west (port) side, an indication of the
stability of Quarry Run C2 against longshore transport along the breakwater can be
assessed based on the CIRIA Special Publication 83/CUR Report) for Hs/∆Dn50 > 10
and the Van der Meer formula for Hs/∆Dn50 < 10 :

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Table 6 Longshore transport assessment of Quarry Run C2 at east (sea) side toe/berm foundation
of Eastern Breakwater for Hs/∆Dn50 > 10
3
kg/m kg m
ρs 2400 Dn50min 5 0.13
ρw 1030 Dn50average 18 0.19
∆ 1.33 30 0.23

Location (wave extraction point) E2 E3 E4 E5 E6 E7 E8

Chainage (m) 7,499 7,024 5,926 5,116 4,065 3,776 2,804
Hs (m) 1.41 1.52 1.69 1.86 2.17 2.26 2.52
Tp (s) 8.63 8.64 8.77 8.67 8.68 8.68 8.69
Incidence angle (up to toe) 69° 70° 59° 71° 70° 69° 66°
Hs/∆Dn_average 5.5* 5.9* 6.5* 7.2* 8.4* 8.7* 9.8
Dn50 required (m) 0.08 0.08 0.11 0.10 0.12 0.12 0.15

Location (wave extraction point) E9 E10 E11 E12 E12_bis E13 E14

Chainage (m) 2,431 1,654 1,459 1,330 1,062 764 490

Hs (m) 2.62 2.84 2.92 2.97 3.01 3.04 3.05
Tp (s) 8.69 8.70 8.70 8.70 8.69 8.68 8.67
Incidence angle (up to toe) 65° 66° 63° 58° 48° 36° 26°
Hs/∆Dn_average 10.2 11.0 11.3 11.5 11.7 11.8 11.8
Dn50 required (m) 0.16 0.16 0.18 0.20 0.22 0.25 0.26
* see also Table 7

Table 7 Longshore transport assessment of Quarry Run C2 at east (sea) side toe/berm
foundationof Eastern Breakwater for Hs/∆Dn50<10

Location (wave extraction point) E2 E3 E4 E5 E6 E7

Chainage (m) 7,499 7,024 5,926 5,116 4,065 3,776

Incidence angle (up to toe) 69° 70° 59° 71° 70° 69°
To 61.4 61.4 62.4 61.7 61.8 61.8
Hs '/∆Dn 3.3 3.5 4.7 4.1 4.9 5.1
HoTo < 105 199 212 291 251 303 317

From Table 6 and Table 7, it can be noted that some limited longshore transport of
quarry run can be expected along the inner (landward) half of the east (sea) side of the
Eastern Breakwater during the 100 year RP design event. However, as the quarry run
is placed at the toe of the structure and is not directly exposed to the waves, longshore
transport is not considered to be such to affect the stability of the seaside toe/berm of
the breakwater.

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3 Transition layer

The transition layer constitutes the general foundation of the Eastern Breakwater and
the Staging Pier and will be placed by direct dumping from barges. The thickness of
the transition layer is between 1.0-1.5 m and shall have a gradation such that there is
sufficient percentage of fines in order to limit the punching into the natural soil.

The envelope for the transition layer material shown in Figure 4 is proposed based on
materials generally used for road construction and available from Iraqi quarries as
presented in Figure 3.

Figure 3 Materials (Type A, B, C and D) generally used for road construction in Iraq

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Figure 4 Transition layer envelope (upper and lower gradation curves)

Table 8 Transition layer gradation limits

Percent Dn (mm) Dn (mm)

passing lower upper
2 0.5
15 0.075 2
50 1 20
85 9.5 50
100 10 100

It is required that the transition layer material, which is also used as foundation of the
temporary port side toe, is be stable for frequent current speeds. Based on Volume II -
Hydrodynamic Modelling of the Hydraulic Design Report (COWI Doc. No.A035823-
RP-11), current speeds for normal conditions upon construction completion of Stage 0
are in the order of 0.2-0.5 m/s along the Eastern Breakwater landward of the Staging
Pier. Based on the Shield formulas applied for different water depths (see Figure 5),
such small currents are not likely to be able to mobilise the transition layer.

Furthermore, it is expected that erosion, if any, will decrease in time as the transition
layer become armoured at the top by the larger stable fractions.

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Figure 5 Incipient motion (based on Shield formulas) as a function of Dn50 and water depth

4 Reclamation fill

Reclamation fill consisting of imported sand/gravel from local quarries will be used
for the core of the breakwater at CH. 3,900-8,205. In order to ensure the overall
stability of the breakwater along this section, the reclamation fill shall have the
following parameters:

› friction angle of 38°

› c´ = 1 kPa,

› unit weight of 18 kN/m3

The above can be achieved if a dry heap of material in its loosest state has a slope of
approximately 32° (or higher) and the method of deposition provides a relative density
of at least 40%.

The reclamation fill shall furthermore meet the following requirement to uniformity:

› U = D60 /D10 < 10

Memo on quarry run, transition layer and core material_Ver. 1