Port of Oakland Wharf & Embankment Strengthening Program

The Port of Oakland, the fifth busiest sea port in the United States, underwent wharf and embankment strengthening in conjunction with and in support of the Port’s berth deepening and channel dredging.  SC Solutions provided analysis support for the seismic evaluation and retrofit effort.

SC Solutions’ responsibilities on this project included evaluation of the seismic performance of the existing Port of Oakland Berths 60, 61, 62, and 63. An important aspect in the analysis and evaluation of these facilities is to properly capture the soil-structure-interaction (SSI) actions in three-dimensional space. A thorough analytical effort involved considering these important interaction effects, so that the whole system could be designed to meet the project performance level under various seismic events.

As part of this project several studies were conducted:

• Evaluation of the superstructure-to-batter pile connection.
• Evaluation of pile group behavior and development of optimal pile spacing.
• Study of various methodologies and their effects on construction costs.
• Study of pile lengths and soil property influence on wharf seismic behavior.

Upon completion of the vulnerability studies, several strengthening concepts were developed and analyzed. Cost and performance comparisons were developed to establish the best possible course of action to be undertaken by the Port of Oakland.  SC Solutions’ advanced analysis approach accurately captured the global and local component response and provided cost savings in the final retrofit strategy.