Reliability Analysis of Geotechnical Failure Modes for Vertical Wall Breakwaters

Vertical wall breakwaters are usually designed as concrete caissons placed on the top of a rubble mound foundation or a rubble bedding layer. The purpose of the breakwater is usually to protect the area behind the breakwater from being flooded by large waves. The area protected can for example be a harbour of small or large importance, an important industrial area or a heavily populated coast line. This implies that vertical wall breakwaters are used under quite different conditions and therefore the consequences of a complete or partial failure also are very different. This implies that the accepted probability of failure also varies considerably which also can be observed from the actual observed failure rates.