The floating dock of Monaco - GENERAL SUMMARY

Abstract

The enlargement of the Condamine Port in Monaco has required, like the main shelter element, the performance of a large floating dike in prestressed concrete 352 m long. The conception of this structure includes, in an innovative way for a project of civil engineering, the technologies developed for large platforms in concrete used for the extraction of oil and gas on the high seas. This project opens a new way in the use, very scarce up to now, of prestressed concrete structures in ports. The typology taken has allowed solving the main problems, both technical and environmental, that conventional solutions of docks with massive use of breakwater materials have risen. This has become a viable solution for future enlargements to the sea in specific cases with similar problems. The following aspects have to be emphasized: execution of a great project in a place far away from its definitive emplacement; condition of floating structure over the sea in its service phase and naval in its transport phase; durability established in 100 years with very strict determining factors such as used materials, specifications and rules; massive use of prestressed in a large structure of concrete; and lastly, execution processes very complex due to the singularity of the project.