| Abstract | In this paper the important role that physical modeling can play in enabling the efficient and optimized design of ports, harbors, and marinas is discussed with reference to a specific project example, known as Gateway Harbor, Chicago. A 3D hydraulic model study was commissioned to help optimize and validate the design of Gateway Harbor, a new harbor proposed for a site beside Navy Pier on the shore of Lake Michigan near the center of Chicago, Illinois, USA. A 3D physical model of the eastern/outer portion of the proposed harbor was constructed in a 36m x 30m multidirectional wave basin at a geometric scale of 1/30. Accurate reproductions of a range of extreme wave conditions were generated in the model by means of a sophisticated 60-segment directional wave generator. The model was fitted with instrumentation to measure wave conditions within the harbor and uplift pressures on an existing deck-on-pile structure running along the south side of Navy Pier. After establishing wave conditions in the new harbor and wave-induced uplift pressures on the pile-supported deck structure for existing conditions and for the baseline harbor layout, the focus shifted to investigating alternative harbor layouts that would alleviate the uplift pressures and reduce wave agitation and wave overtopping as much as possible without increasing project costs substantially. Over twenty alternative harbor layouts were modeled and assessed in the physical model study. Some of the more effective harbor layouts were able to reduce uplift pressures, agitation levels and overtopping considerably compared to the baseline layout. The finding that excessive uplift pressures could be reduced to acceptable levels by making relatively small and inexpensive changes to the harbor layout was an important factor in the viability of the Gateway Harbor project. This important refinement and optimization of the baseline design would not have been possible without the 3D physical model study. |
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