IN THIS PAPER, THE GENERAL PROCESS AND PRINCIPLES OF THE DESIGNING MINERAL LOADING AND DISCHARGE BERTHS ARE REVIEWED. BERTHS IN GENERAL ARE DIVIDED INTO TWO CATEGORIES OF “OFF THE COAST” AND “BY THE COAST”, WHICH IS ALSO KNOWN AS BEACH WALL. THE TWO BERTHS REVIEWED BRIEFLY IN THIS PAPER ARE OWNED BY THE STEEL NATIONAL CORPORATION, ONE OF WHICH IS LOCATED IN BANDAR ABBAS AND THE OTHER ONE IN IMAM KHOMEINI PORT IN THE PERSIAN GULF. BANDAR ABBAS’ BERTH IS AN OFF THE COAST TYPE, WHICH HAS THE CAPACITY OF 100, 000 TONS DWT SHIPS AND THE OTHER IS A BULWARK ONE WITH THE CAPACITY OF 60, 000 TON DWG SHIPS. THE BERTH IN BANDAR ABBAS WAS BUILT AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR 1995, AND OTHER ONE IS STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION.

THE SYSTEMATIC USAGE OF COMPUTER EQUIPMENT SUCH AS HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE AND THE GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION (SPATIAL AND NON-SPATIAL) THAT INCLUDE THE GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM (GIS) HAS BEEN UNIVERSALLY IMPLEMENTED SINCE 1980. DIFFERENT FEATURES OF THIS SYSTEM SUCH AS FAST AND PRECISE SPATIAL AND NON-SPATIAL INFORMATION JOINT STORING AND ANALYZING AND EXPORTING THE RESULTS IN DIFFERENT FORMS HAS CAUSED THIS SYSTEM TO BE USED IN MANY STUDY FIELDS OF URBAN AND REGIONAL PLANNING SCIENCE, SOCIAL SCIENCES AND ECONOMICS, INDUSTRIES, AGRICULTURES AND SO ON. CONSIDERING THE MENTIONED FEATURES, IT HAS BEEN TRIED TO EXPLAIN THE INSTRUCTION OF USING THIS SYSTEM IN BERTHS POSITIONING. IN THIS STUDY, IT HAS BEEN TRIED TO PROPOSE A GENERAL DISCUSSION ABOUT THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM IN POSITIONING AND FORMATION OF SPATIAL AND NON-SPATIAL INFORMATION BASE. THE RESULTS OF THE DISCUSSED TOPICS INDICATE THAT THE IMPLEMENTATION OF GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM IN BERTHS POSITIONING IS SCIENTIFIC. MOREOVER, ITS IMPORTANT POINT IS ITS IMPLEMENTATION IN VARIOUS LEVELS OF THE MODELING OF SMALL FISHING BERTHS TO LARGE BERTHS WITH INTERNATIONAL PERFORMANCE. THE IMPLEMENTATION ACCEPTANCE OF THIS SYSTEM BY THE RELATED ORGANIZATIONS IN THE FIELDS OF CONSTRUCTION, DEVELOPMENT AND EXPANSION OF BERTHS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR IN THIS SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT, AND ALSO, THE COOPERATION OF THESE ORGANIZATIONS IN GENERATING AND PROPOSING THE INFORMATION NEEDED FOR THE GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM BASE IS ONE OF THE BASIC NECESSITIES.

BERTH, ALSO KNOWN AS BERTHING STRUCTURE, IS MAINLY USED FOR LOADING AND UNLOADING CARGOES. REGARDLESS OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF THIS STRUCTURE, ALL BERTHS HAVE THREE MAIN FUNCTIONS: ALLOWING BERTHING FOR SHIPS, FILLING THE GAP BETWEEN SHIP AND LAND (ACCESS BRIDGE) AND PLAYING THE ROLE OF BACK WALL FOR FILLERS THAT ARE BEHIND THE BERTH. BERTHS HAVE THREE BROAD SYSTEMS: DECK AND PILE, WALL, WEIGHT. THE FIRST SYSTEMS ARE USED WHEN LAND IS SOFT AND SOIL LAYERS ARE DEEP INSIDE THE SEA. ALTHOUGH DECK AND PILE BERTH CAN CONVENIENTLY BE IMPLEMENTED, IT NEEDS SPECIAL MAINTENANCE BECAUSE OF STEEL’S LOW RESISTANCE AGAINST CORROSION. WEIGHT BERTHS ARE USED IN AREAS WHERE WATER IS NOT TURBULENT AND SEA BED IS STRONG ENOUGH. CONCRETE BLOCK BERTH IS THE MOST COMMON TYPE OF WEIGHT BERTHS. THIS ARTICLE DEALS WITH TECHNOLOGY OF MAKING DECK AND PILE BERTH AND GIVES AN ECONOMIC EVALUATION OF SUCH PROJECTS. PARS PETROCHEMICAL PORT IS USED AS CASE STUDY.

NON-REINFORCED CONCRETE BLOCK BERTHS HAVE LONG BEEN USED FOR THE PURPOSE OF FACILITATING SHIPS BERTHING AND COASTAL WALLS. TODAY, THESE TYPES OF BERTHS ARE INCREASINGLY USED IN THE WORLD. ONE REASON IS THAT ITS CONSTRUCTION IS EASY AND NEEDS SIMPLE TECHNOLOGY (IN COMPARISON TO PILE BERTHS). THE OTHER REASON IS THAT CONCRETE IS ECONOMICALLY CHEAPER AND ALSO MORE DURABLE THAN STEEL. CONCRETE BERTHS ARE IMPLEMENTED IN DIFFERENT METHODS. THE MANNER BLOCKS ARE ARRANGED IN ORDERS IS OF GREAT IMPORTANCE. STAGGERED ARRANGEMENT AND COLUMN ARRANGEMENT AS WELL AS SLICED ARRANGEMENT ARE OF PRIME EXAMPLES OF ARRANGEMENT METHODS. EACH ONE OF THESE METHODS DEPENDS ON ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS AND THE FORCES THAT ARE LIKELY TO BE APPLIED TO THE STRUCTURE. THIS PROBLEM IS THE FIRST ISSUE THAT THIS ARTICLE AIMS TO DEAL WITH. THIS ARTICLE SEEKS TO EXPLAIN HOW BLOCK BERTHS MUST BE ARRANGED IN THE REGIONS THAT ARE MORE VULNERABLE TO SEISMIC. SINCE IRAN, PARTICULARLY PERSIAN GULF, IS INCREASINGLY PRONE TO SEISMIC, IT IS VITAL TO USE THIS METHOD IN CONSTRUCTION OF BERTHS.

PILE WALLS ARE AMONG POPULAR METHODS FOR CONSTRUCTING BERTHS, AND IN PLACES WHERE THE SEABED IS HARD AND DENSE, THE ERECTION OF STANDARD PILES BECOMES DIFFICULT, ESPECIALLY IF THE FREE HEIGHT OF BERTH IS SIGNIFICANT AND, CONTROLLING THE PILE DURING ERECTION AND SUPPORT GETS COMPLICATED. HOWEVER, STANDARD PILES ARE NOT ALWAYS AVAILABLE IN IRAN AND AN ALTERNATIVE WOULD BE ERECTING PIPE TRESSES PARALLEL TO EACH OTHER IN ORDER TO MAKE A CONTIGUOUS PIPE PILE WALL. ANALYZING THESE STRUCTURES BY ORDINARY METHODS DOES NOT USUALLY CONSIDER THEIR LIMIT BALANCE, CONTROL FORCE DURING CONSTRUCTION AND OPERATION, AND THEIR BEHAVIOR THROUGH EARTHQUAKES WITH THE DESIRED PRECISION. IN BERTHS WITH A SIGNIFICANT FREE HEIGHT, CONSTRUCTION IS CONDUCTED HIGHER THAN THE NORMAL SCALE IN DIFFERENT STAGES, AND CAN LEAD TO DISLOCATION OR OTHER SIMILAR PROBLEMS. IN SUCH CASES, USING NUMERICAL ANALYSIS METHODS, SUCH AS LIMITED ELEMENTS THAT CAN PROPERLY MODEL THE CONSTRUCTION PROCESS, COULD PROVE OPTIMAL IN DESIGNING CONTIGUOUS PIPE PILE WALLS. IN THIS PAPER, THE PLAXIS SOFTWARE PACKAGE USING THE LIMITED ELEMENTS MODEL WAS ANALYZED IN DESIGNING A CONTIGUOUS PIPE PILE WALL IN THE SERVICE PORT OF PARS IN ASSALUYEH, AND ITS PERFORMANCE IN DIFFERENT CONDITIONS WAS CONSIDERED.

PILES ARE BROADLY USED IN MARINE COASTAL AND OFFSHORE STRUCTURES. THIS ARTICLE TRIES TO FOCUS ON BEHAVIOR OF VERTICAL PILES THAT ARE USED IN BERTHS AND OTHER MARINE STRUCTURES. THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN PERFORMED BASED ON A NUMERICAL METHOD USING FLAC3D SOFTWARE. THIS SOFTWARE WORKS BASED ON FD LIMITED DIFFERENCES. TO ENSURE ACCURACY OF THE RESULTS, A PILE WAS CHOSEN AS THE MODEL AND RESULTS OF THE STUDY ARE MATCHED TO IT. THIS ARTICLE MAKES A COMPARISON AMONG FOUR DIFFERENT ARRANGEMENTS FOR PILES IN A BERTH. A COMPARISON BETWEEN RESULTS GIVES BETTER UNDERSTANDING ABOUT THE BEHAVIOR OF VERTICAL PILES AND SO IT CAN BE USED IN DESIGN OPTIMIZATION OPERATIONS.

COMPLEXITIES AND THE NUMBERS OF THE PARAMETERS INCLUDED IN BEHAVIORAL FUNCTIONS OF MARINE CONSTRUCTIONS AND BREAKWATERS IN VARIOUS ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS, AND ALSO THE HIGH EXECUTIVE COSTS OF THESE CONSTRUCTIONS AND THEIR MAXIMUM USAGE EXIGENCY NOT ONLY INCREASES THE SENSITIVITY OF DESIGNING SUCH CONSTRUCTIONS, BUT ALSO INVOKES THE NECESSITY OF USING OTHERS EXPERIENCE AND LEARNING FROM THE FLAWS IN THE FORMER DESIGNS. IN SOME OF THE BREAKWATERS BUILT IN BUSHEHR PROVINCE, THE SEDIMENT PHENOMENA IN THE BERTH AREA IS SO RIFE THAT IT HAS EXTERMINATED THEM AND MADE THEIR USEFUL FUNCTIONING LIFE EXTENSIVELY SHORTER THAN THE PREDICTIONS. ON THE OTHER HAND, SOME OTHER BERTHS HAVE FUNCTIONED FOR LONG WITHOUT CONFRONTING THIS BASIC PROBLEM. IN THIS RESEARCH, SOME OF THE MENTIONED BREAKWATERS HAVE BEEN CHOSEN WITH DIFFERENT CONDITIONS, AND WITH CONSIDERING THE EFFECTIVE FACTORS, THEIR SEDIMENT PATTERN HAS BEEN SURVEYED, AND THE RESULTS WERE COMPARED TO THE PRACTICAL SEDIMENT MODEL IN BERTH AREA. IN THIS COMPARISON, WITH THE VERIFICATION OF THE PRACTICAL SEDIMENT PATTERN, THE ACTUAL FLAWS OF THE DESIGNS ARE INDICATED, AND ACCORDING TO THE OBTAINED EXPERIENCE, GENERAL SUGGESTIONS ARE MADE FOR PRIMARY DESIGNING OF THE BREAKWATERS IN A WAY TO MINIMIZE SEDIMENTATION.

THANKS TO ITS SPECIAL FEATURES, REINFORCED CONCRETE HAS BEEN EXTENSIVELY USED IN THE PAST DECADES FOR BUILDING LAND AND MARINE STRUCTURES ALL AROUND THE WORLD. UNFORTUNATELY, EARLY DETRIMENTS TO CONCRETE STRUCTURES LOCATED IN THE VICINITY OF SEAWATER OR SALTY EARTH HAS CAUSED SERIOUS CONCERNS FOR USING CONCRETE IN SUCH STRUCTURES. THIS DESTRUCTION IS EVEN MORE RAPID, AND MORE DANGEROUS IN HORRID CLIMATES, SUCH AS THE PERSIAN GULF, ACTUALLY REDUCING THEIR LIFE SPAN BY 30 PERCENT. THE HUGE FINANCIAL DAMAGE OF THIS PHENOMENON TO SUCH STRUCTURES IN IRAN AND OTHER PERSIAN GULF LITTORAL STATES HAS LED RESEARCH AND SCIENTIFIC CENTERS IN THESE COUNTRIES TO ACTION, AND THIS PAPER FOCUSES ON THE FACTORS BRINGING ABOUT THIS PHENOMENON IN THE CONCRETE BERTHS OF IMAM KHOMEINI PORT.