quay wall

A quay wall is a crucial engineering structure in ports, designed to support land and superimposed loads immediately adjacent to water deep enough for ships. Its primary function is to facilitate the transfer of goods between ships and land transportation.12

Two common designs for quay walls include:

• Gravity Walls: These rely on their own mass and the passive resistance of the seabed for stability. Foundations are typically placed below the seabed level. Modern gravity walls are almost universally constructed from plain or reinforced concrete.2
• Sheet-Piled Quay Walls: This design uses interlocking steel sheet piles to form a continuous membrane. The sheet piling acts as the quay face and is often anchored back to resist soil thrust. A concrete cope beam is cast over the exposed heads of the sheet piles to complete the structure.1

The choice of design depends on various factors, including soil conditions, water depth, and economic considerations, with the cost often increasing with the required ship draft.12