Dibba bulk handling terminal, Port of Fujairah, UAE – first application of the ACCROBERM™ unit
In the context of the project to extend the Port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates, Sixco has been appointed to perform the construction works, which include extending a breakwater by almost 300 m and creating a reclamation area.
These two structures will be protected by 3m3 ACCROPODE™ II and ACCROBERM™ units. This will be the first application of the ACCROBERM™ unit.
The ACCROBERM™ is designed to stabilise armour toes at the points where they are most exposed. Its excellent stability stems from its round truncated cone shape, its very low centre of gravity and its vents. These units alone can replace both the first row of ACCROPODE™ II units and the rockfill toe berm.
This innovation is the outcome of several years of research and development at Artelia and its subsidiary CLI with the aim of developing a cutting-edge armour toe system that improves stability and simplifies construction.
This new unit provides a number of practical solutions for:
- Stabilising the breakwater toe in wave breaking zones,
- Eliminating the need for a stabilising toe trench made of rock in most cases,
- Eliminating the need for a rockfill toe mound.
The ACCROBERM™ also offers other benefits, including:
- Being an economical solution that is easy to implement,
- Reducing the maritime footprint of the structures,
- Ensuring seamless integration into an environmentally sensitive site by offering eco-design possibilities to restore ecosystems or create new ones.
CLI and Sixco worked together to finalise the preparatory tests that were conducted. CLI assisted and advised Sixco throughout the process of fabricating and placing these new ACCROBERMTM I units.
CLI also assisted Sixco during manufacture of the formwork, and then - on-site and via video link - with the fabrication and placing of the units on the structure.
