Measurement of Structure Response to Ferry Berthing Loads

The load environment from side-berthing ferry landings is not well understood. This is due, primarily, to a lack of information for loads from ferry-class vessels. As a result, a great deal of uncertainty exists when designing such structures for vessel impacts. The intent of this study is to fill, at least in part, existing knowledge gaps related to load demands on ferry landing structures from vessel impact. This manuscript will focus specifically on a means for acquiring strain, displacement and approach velocity measurements at active ferry landings. This is accomplished using traditional instruments for measuring strain and deformation; coupled with modern data acquisition equipment. The result is a system that monitors structural response metrics that are useful to engineers tasked with analyzing and designing ferry landing structures. The automated system is a practical approach to studying multiple berthing events and allows collection of a statistically-significant sample - providing a pathway to reliability-based design criteria. Preliminary results of approach velocity and elastic potential energy of the structure due to berthing action will also be presented to demonstrate the utility of the automated data acquisition system.