Abstract
An innovative ‘buoyancy-driven vertical piling breakwater’ is under development to protect harbor facilities against high waves and tsunamis. This breakwater consists of rows of steel pipe piles and each pile consists of upper and lower steel pipes. The movable performance and hydraulic characterisitics of the breakwater have been verified by the large scale hydraulic model tests. In addition, the performance of the breakwater in the sea has to be clarified for its realization.
This paper reports the results of the field experiment by a real scale structure. The results clearly demonstrate that: 1) The fabrication accuracy and the placing accuracy of the steel pipes were excellent; 2) The rising time of the breakwater in the waves was within a few minitues; 3) The transmission mechanism of the wave force from the upper pipe to the lower pipe has been proven; 4) The marine growth around the upper pipe was little.
