After the big flood in 1953 the Grevelingendam and the Brouwersdam were built as a part of the ‘Deltawerken’. By constructing these dams the Grevelingen was separated from the North Sea, which created the largest salt water lake in Europe. Several decades later it was discovered that during hot summers the deeper areas of the lake were leaking oxygen. This leads to a massive mortality of the fauna and flora living in these depths. Since this area is spreading to the shallow areas it was decided by Rijkswaterstaat to bring back a reduced tide into the Grevelingen lake.
The idea is to bring this reduced tide back by constructing a sluice caisson or tidal power plant into the Brouwersdam. This tidal range was determined in a way that the fauna and flora on the islands could remain. Another problem that arises with this reduced tide is that it is unknown what the consequences are for the harbours around the Grevelingen lake and their structures. Brouwershaven specifically gets its income from the harbour and its tourism. This made the Gemeente Schouwen-Duiveland ask to investigate the consequences of a potential reduced tide in its harbour. This led to the following research question:’ Is there a necessity to adapt the harbour constructions in the harbour of Brouwershaven, or to secure them against the reduced tide in the Grevelingen lake?’.
This research was started by investigating the different boundary conditions such as:
• Wind 1,54 m/s Southwest
• Occurring water levels +0,7 m NAP and -0,5 m NAP
• Not exploded explosives Not taken into account
• Soil structure Exists mainly of clay and peat, with a thick sand layer at -16 m NAP
• Profile of the harbour bottom Design level of the harbour bottom at -2,75 m NAP
• Shipping Limiting factors: ship draught of 2 m and length of 14 m
• Flow rate through the guard lock In case of tidal power plant: 0,154 m/s In case of sluice caisson: 0,0719 m/s
The new part of the harbour was designed after the closure of the Grevelingen. This is why the option was to check the stability of the structure in this part of harbour. At the end of the calculation it turned out that there was no danger for the structures to become unstable by the reduced tide. However, there is a statistical probability that the scaffoldings as well as the quay wall will be flooded once in a hundred years. The bigger problem that was found was the accessibility of the harbour. The harbour is now only accessible for ships with a draught of 2 m at a water depth of 2,5 m. Which at a lower water level would cause problems to safely enter and manoeuvre in the harbour.
In the search for a solution a brainstorm session was held with the construction company ‘Aquavia’. With the help of a multi criteria analysis (MCA) it was found that the best solutions were:
• Construction a new harbour in front of the guard lock
• Creating a new function for the existing harbour and shifting the harbour function to a new location in front of the guard lock
• Demolition of the sills in the guard lock and dredging the harbour to a deeper level
In consultation with ‘Gemeente Schouwen-Duiveland’ it was decided to design the first and the last bullet in more detail.
The first variant that was dealt with was that of the demolition of the sills in the guard lock and the dredging of the harbour. The idea here was to lower the bottom of the harbour and the guard lock to at least a level of -2,75 m NAP, which produces a volume of 5143 m3¬ of material such as silt to be dredged away. Which includes the possibility of:
• Finding not exploded explosives
• The quay walls of the oldest part of the harbour becoming unstable.
Also the stability of the guard lock construction after removing the sills had to be checked. This unfortunately was not executed due to the lack of technical data and drawings of the reinforcement. Finally an estimation of 300.000 EUR was made to realise this variant.
The idea for the second variant is to leave the harbour behind the guard lock in the state it is currently in and to construct a new harbour in front of the guard lock. In this way smaller ships can still use the old harbour whereas the ships that cannot enter the harbour anymore can moor in the new harbour as well as even larger ships. In this new harbour then there would also be a place to moor the fishing boats as well as a river cruise ship. Because of strict time scheduling it was decided to only design one of the important structures of the harbour, namely the harbour mole. For this design there were 2 variants to take into account. In the first variant the total mole construction (breakwater + the pier) was made of wood, whereas in the second variant only part of the breakwater was made of wood. The pier, however, was made of concrete. Finally it was estimated that the construction of the new harbour would cost 7 million EUR. Which is a big difference compared to the price estimation of the demolition of the sills in the guard lock. Both variants have their pros and cons. By demolishing the sills and dredging the harbour to a lower level the problem of the harbour is resolved while a smaller/ more optimised version of the other variant could enable more future prospects to be worked out for the harbour by increasing the capacity and attracting new functions to the harbour. This could of course increase the harbour profits.

In this research, a dichotomy between two different risk approaches is presented. One approach depicts risk management and a subpart of it, risk allocation, to be objective. The other approach contradicts this approach by stating that all stages of risk analysis, including its techniques involve subjectivity (Redmill, 2002). The ‘dual nature of risk’, which implies that risks are on the one hand, objectively given, and on the other hand subjective, mental constructs (Klinke & Renn, 2002), is investigated in this research. Based on case studies, a cross-case analysis and expert validation, conclusions and recommendations are given on which theoretical risk approach is applied in practice. Furthermore, a new risk allocation concept has been developed.

Schiphol Airport and Heijmans are working together on the renewal of the Schiphol runways pavements. Currently the top layer is covered with a synthetic antiskid material called ASK. But the strong weather limitations for the installation of this material have opened the door for alternatives. Heijmans has proposed an innovative asphalt mixture that is able to provide similar and in some cases better surface performances compared with the ASK. This asphalt mixture is called Flightflex R and is a stone matrix asphalt. Consequently it is affected by the variability of the construction process. This thesis project focuses on the analysis of the best quality control procedure for this asphalt. The pavement surface needs to meet specific requirements and it is of interest to define a sampling methodology for the evaluation of the Texture Depth (TD). In particular the research aims to define the minimum number of samples that provides the highest reliability for the definition of the Mean Texture Depth (MTD) of the surface. To achieve this goal a theoretical approach is adopted. Starting from the collection of a consistent number of samples, the properties of the surface are analysed. In this process it is of interest to define the influence of the construction process on the surface quality. The information obtained are used to simulate bigger surfaces on which different sampling methodologies are tested. In particular three different methodologies are analysed: the current methodology called CROW, a Uniform methodology and a random methodology called Hammersley methodology. Thorough testing these sampling methodologies on the simulated surfaces it is possible to evaluate the relative error between the MTD of the simulated surfaces and the MTD of the samples taken. A Monte Carlo type of approach helps to define precisely which methodology performs better. The one with the lowest relative error and minimum required number of samples will be considered the most efficient. The simulation of the surfaces and the analysis of the sampling process highlights a correlation between the manufacturing signature and some sampling methodologies. In case of a correlation the reliability of the methodology decreases. In particular the CROW and the Uniform methodology present a form of correlation and thus have a lower reliability. The Hammersley methodology aims to simulate a random selection of samples and for this reason it does not enter in correlation with the surface patterns. The three aforementioned methodologies are in the last part of the research applied on a 500 m long section of the runway Polderbaan at Schiphol Airport. Although the Uniform methodology is less reliable it provides a 1% of relative error with only 70 samples. The Hammersley instead needs 180 samples to reach the same relative error but with a higher reliability. The CROW is the least performing. In fact it has a lower reliability than the Uniform strategy and it needs 170 samples to reach 1% relative error. The research helps highlighting the correlation between the manufacturing signature left by the construction process and the sampling strategy adopted. It also highlights the fact that a random distribution escapes this correlation and provides more reliable results. To conclude, the companies are suggested to use the Uniform methodology in case of short time available for the quality control measurements. This comes with a lowest reliability that has to be accepted. But in case a high reliability is required and sufficient time is available, the Hammersley strategy is considered more appropriate.

Ports worldwide are confronted with a changing environment in terms of global economy and a rising awareness of the necessity of balancing economic, social and environmental interests. Therefore, in recent years, a lot of research has been directed towards studying sustainable port development. However, the focus has been on greenfield ports, while little has been said about ports in transition. This paper presents a framework for sustainable development of ports in transition and applies it to the re-development of bay of Havana in Cuba.

Extreme folding damage of open-ended tubular piles could occur during piling in onshore practices. Amazonehaven unique quay wall removal gave the opportunity to study king pile’s failure close to toe. King piles are primary piles in a combined wall system, exposed to static and dynamic load. It is argued that the unexpected pile toe failure have been caused by dynamic load because of the uniaxial direction of the extreme deformations. However, research into pile toe failure in Amazonehaven shows that hammer-induced driving stresses are significantly lower than material’s yield stress close to pile toe, given Amazonehaven soil condition. Therefore, the dynamic load has not been solely detrimental to the pile toe integrity. The main reasons for pile toe failure are discussed to be (1) pile imperfection, (2) pile inclination and (3) pile inhomogeneous strength. Bear in mind that, pile toe failure to such extent when not limited might lead to dysfunction of the asset during its technical lifetime. Therefore, counteractions must be taken to assure quay wall’s safety and stability while operating. The remedies when such a piling risk event occur could be: replacement, early maintenance, or a reduction in its designed storage capacity. The reactive solutions will bring financial consequences of pile toe failure forward. In other words, the client will experience a reduction in its revenues due to asset’s malfunction. However, when proactive process-based alternatives are implemented in the current procedure in piling industry, the probability of occurrence of the failure is to be reduced. Therefore, financial consequences of piling risk event will remain limited.

The main personal objectives creating this master thesis are to present a: Compact, comprehensive, consistent, reader friendly, and to the point report.

In Sri Lanka, the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam waged a civil war between 1983 and 2009. During this period the social and economic development in the north and east of the country was disrupted. Due to this disruption a development opportunity for this region is the expansion of the fishery industry. In 2016, the Sri Lankan government proposed the Northern Province Sustainable Fisheries Development Project, in which the construction of a harbour at Point Pedro in the Jaffna District is included. This harbour should become the second largest fishery harbour in Sri Lanka.

This report covers the design study of the Point Pedro harbour project, the goal of this study is to design a safe, economically efficient and socially accepted harbour at Point Pedro. To achieve this goal, the following research question “How can safety, economic efficiency and environmental impact be combined optimally in a harbour design for Point Pedro in the Jaffna District?” is answered.

In figure XX, the final design of the harbour can be seen. This design is focused on the optimal combination between safety, economic efficiency and environmental impact. Because these criteria are conflicting, they are prioritized as follows: (1) safety, (2) economic efficiency and (3) environmental impact. Safety is provided by constructing breakwaters around the harbour, providing sheltered water conditions in the harbour basin. Also, the harbour entrance is constructed in a way that monsoon waves cannot directly intrude into the basin. Economic efficiency is accounted for by constructing the quay wall close to the central located fish processing facilities. This optimizes the supply chain, resulting in a smaller loss in the fish production (compared to the current situation). The costs are optimized by reusing all dredged material inside the breakwater or for land reclamation. Additionally, the location of the harbour entrance is minimizing the sailing routes as much as possible, without creating safety issues due to wave intrusion. Finally, the negative effects of social impact are limited by involving local fishermen and residents during the entire development process. Because these stakeholders are potential blockers of the project, it is important to include their opinions in the design. This can also be done by broadening the scope, in which touristic facilities and accommodations can be included in the project. Other negative impacts of the harbour can be either mitigated or minimized. However, because the environmental impact is determined as the least important criteria, it is not able to solve every issue.

This design is considered to be the most optimal combination for the harbour design of Point Pedro, regarding the criteria of safety, economic efficiency and environmental impact. It is recommended to EML Consultants that three characteristics of the proposed design should be implemented in their final design for Point Pedro: (1) apply building on the reef for land reclamation inside the harbour, (2) cluster the fish processing facilities near the unloading quay walls, because it optimizes the fish supply chain and reduces fish loss, and (3) construct the jetties for large boats (in the east of the harbour) as proposed, because it optimizes manoeuverability inside the harbour using minimal space. The final recommendation is to perform additional research to make a more accurate design, as the main limitation of the report is the limited amount of available data. Additional research should be done in the fields of; wave data, ground conditions over the entire harbour basin, cost estimation and sedimentation.

Shock Safe Nepal was founded as a response to the 2015 Nepal earthquakes to function as a platform to contribute to the development of knowledge on earthquake safe housing. The goal of the report of team 5 is to validate and optimise the design of the pilot house that was created based on the work of previous teams, and the development on implementation plans for a validated and optimised house. Literature study, field work and interviews have been performed resulting in main findings of this report.
Primarily, the used materials were analysed in the report, including bamboo, CSEB bricks and concrete. They were analysed consulting literature, conducting laboratory tests in cooperation with the University of Tribhuvan. Bamboo was mainly analysed consulting literature sources, since laboratory tests were not feasible. It was found that its material properties are immensely difficult to determine and can vary from one column to another. However, it remains a strong and cheap building material. CSEB bricks were used due to its availability, strength and price. The material properties were derived from tests done by Build Up Nepal and from literature sources. Its mechanical performance is like that of concrete. It’s an easy material to build with and incorporate steel rebar’s. However, its durability and consistency is something which was not thoroughly investigated and remains debatable. The concrete used, was thoroughly tested, conducting slump cone, compression and Schmidt Hammer tests. It was found that the concrete used in the pilot house is of acceptable quality, but there is room for improvement by following clear guidelines and technical assistance. Subsequently, static calculations were executed, regarding the roof, the load bearing structure and the foundation. It was found that these different components, perform safely under static conditions, with the applied loads, separately and combined. The load bearing structure has turned out to be a wall-bearing structure. This was not assumed at first. Furthermore, after calculations, it was found that the roof and foundation were largely over dimensioned. This is, however, determined considering many assumptions, such as the soil properties.
Regarding an earthquake situation, the walls and bearing capacity were researched and calculated following quasi-static conditions. The earthquake conditions were derived from the Peak Ground Acceleration. Primarily the walls were researched. Two scenarios were considered, a 3-point collapse failure mechanism and punctual overturning collapse failure mechanism. Both mechanisms were tested for different wall compartments. These calculations give a small insight in the actual situation, because dynamic loads are applied statically, non-linear or dynamic calculations should be conducted as well as FEM modelling, for more thorough understanding. It must be said that the rebar and resonance effects were not considered. Regarding the bearing capacity, a PGA of 0.6 was used and from calculations, partly considering the soil and superstructure inertial effects, the bearing capacity would not fail. However, superstructure resonance was not considered. Larger PGA’s were not investigated, which means that it is not determined under which conditions failure would occur. From these analyses the Structural optimisations are made to the design. This includes improving the joints between different elements of the house. Regarding the materials used the optimisations include 5 protecting the CSEB bricks from weather as they are load-bearing. Guidelines are given on the placement of the house regarding the foundation and the slope. According to the calculations the foundation is over- dimensioned.
For the stakeholder analysis, extensive research was done through interviews which was combined with literary information available. This was then used to create a power interest grid and a network analysis, which shows the links between different categories of stakeholders and different specific stakeholders. This analysis also gave insight in the sheer number of stakeholders involved in rebuilding Nepal and the importance of defining the role of SSN further. The external factors that are important in working in Nepal were analysed, this was done regarding social, technical, economic, environmental, political, legal and ethical aspects and based on literature research, field research and interviews. Implementation methods of different types of organisations in Nepal were analysed. These findings were concluded in a SWOT analysis of the organisations. Defining the strengths, weaknesses, Opportunities and threats of other organisation help to define the direction that SSN should move in and those aspects of building in Nepal that can also be defined as strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to SSN or make SSN different to other organisations. The risks of building in Nepal must be considered to create a realistic and feasible long-term plan and need to be mitigated a risk analysis is done. The findings in the risk assessment are found in external risks, design risks and construction risks. A plan is then set up to mitigate external risks and construction risks are the. The findings of the long-term plan are organised into a strategy for SSN, an engagement plan and an implementation pathway. The strategy is concluded in a SWOT analysis which is then used to create a TOWS analysis. This TOWS analysis combined the internal and external strengths and weaknesses to bring new creative ways of maximising strengths and opportunities and minimising the weaknesses and threats. The Implementation pathway contains long- term goals for SSN, that are structured into regulatory, implementation, technical and organisational goals and that can be added onto by future teams.
This research is to be a logical step in a series of research projects which will contribute to the reconstruction of an earthquake safe environment in Nepal. It can be used as consultation advice, guideline or as a base for in-depth follow up research on one of the included topics.