Displacement Mechanism of Concrete Artificial Reefs

The purpose of this study was to integrate the principles of marine geotechnical engineering, underwater acoustic and optical observation techniques into studying the distribution of seafloor sediments and engineering stability of artificial reefs off Yong-an Harbor, Kaohsiung County, south-western coast of Taiwan. The artificial reefs were deployed to the testing site in November 9th, 1996. The goal of this study was intended to describe the engineering status of this reef site and to investigate whether these reefs were moved and buried or not; as well as, to predict whether additional reefs should be deployed to this site in the future.Long-term monitoring of underwater targets was conducted by using of side-scan sonar system, echo sounder, sub-bottom profiler, and underwater video camera. The utility of side-scan sonar system was to depict the topography and terrain features of the seabed. The other equipments were used to complement and cross correlate the results of side-scan sonar observations. In this study, wave forces against reef were estimated by Morison¡¦s equation(ex. Huang, 1995), scouring depth was calculated by Silvester¡¦s experience equation (Silvester, 1974), and the settlement of reefs by theoretical consolidation equation(ex. Das, 1990).The topography of Yung-an reef site is generally gentle and monotonous. The major texture of surficial sediments in this site was sandy silt, and some gravel was distributed at the southern part of the site.In terms of the stability on the artificial reefs project, Typhoon was the main factor which causes the reef to slide or roll. Verified by theoretical analysis and monitoring, the study area of the original stacked reefs has tumbled during the research period, while the remaining non-stacked reef shows insignificant displacement and quantity of the settlement found no cases being buried.To sum up, Yong-an artificial reef district in Kaohsiung county, respectively as A, B, C; the stacked reef under normal condition has found no significant reef being buried and moving traces and artificial reefs can fully elaborate by the gathers of the fish. According to the viewpoint of this project , "Direct contact with the reef and the body of the sea-bed " both the forces of the waves and ocean currents when a typhoon strikes is not easy for the reefs to glide. The "stacked reef" which causes the reef to slide or roll when typhoon occurs was caused by both the forces of the waves and ocean currents."Direct contact with the reef and the body of the sea-bed " in the case of wave period of 10 sec, analysis shows that the wave height must be greater than 5.8 m in order to make the reef slide. "Stacked reef" in the case of wave period of 10 sec, analysis shows that the wave height must be greater than 4.5 m in order to make the reef roll.