LFCS Review report – Environmental loads Methods for the estimation of loads on large floating bridges

Abstract

The document presents a review of state-of-the-art methods to calculate environmental loads on large floating bridges. It is a deliverable from WP2 of the Design and verification of Large Floating Costal Structures (LFCS) KPN project. The environmental loads arise from wind, waves and current actions. The report starts with a review of physical effects contributing to the loads and methods used to calculate them. Regarding wind loads, most knowledge comes from the large bridge engineering field, while methods for wave and current loads are developed for the offshore oil and gas sector for more than 40 years. Use of the existing methods for floating bridges is discussed. The second part of the report reviews the methods applied for the Bjørnafjorden designs, starting with the Statens vegvesen Design Basis and continuing with the actual feasibility studies for the straight bridge and curved bridge solutions. The report ends with identification of gaps on the calculation methods and recommendations for further studies.