Port Engineering

Significant developments have occurred in port planning and design over the last two decades. The main reasons for these developments are globalization and advanced technologies in maritime transportation. As a result of these developments, ports, which hold a large share of world trade and serve as the gateway for maritime transportation, need to be planned using modern technologies. Properly planned and operated ports not only create impacts on the economic and social development of regions and countries but also on the global economy. Furthermore, major earthquakes that have occurred worldwide since the 1990s have led to serious developments in the design of strategically important port structures.

Despite 85% of Turkish foreign trade being conducted via maritime transport, it is known that the concept of modern port management has not yet been established and the capacities of existing ports are not sufficiently utilized. This work addresses important issues related to port planning and design and provides preliminary information for design.

This book has been prepared by compiling information from recent works on port engineering, as well as standards and manuals such as PIANC, BS, CEM, and OCDI. The aim of the book is to provide basic concepts of maritime trade and port planning, planning of land and sea areas of ports, individual discussion of terminal characteristics, design criteria for port structures, definition of navigation systems, a brief explanation of how maintenance and repairs of port structures should be carried out during operation, and some criteria and definitions related to dredging, which is an important issue in port planning from an environmental and cost perspective.