1st Nador Caisson Floated

The October 4 2018 COPRI Houston Conference lecture Breakwater Caisson Design was presented a few days before the first Nador Caisson was loaded out in Morocco.

This video illustrates a success story.  The loading out the 3,000 tonne caisson (that had been slipformed on land) is shown onto a semi-submersible barge.  The barge is towed to relatively deep water and ballasted down, until the caisson can be floated off.  The caisson is then towed to a moderate water depth where it is ballasted down and stored until all caissons are ready for final installation.

All phases of the operation required naval architecture calculations for the hydrostatic stability of the caisson and barge. About 100 Caissons make up the breakwater for the new harbor at Port Nador.