WHARVES, PIERS, BULKHEADS,

DOLPHINS AND MOORINGS

INTRODUCTION
 WHARVES

• A Wharf or warves is a man-made

structure on a river or by the sea,
which provides an area for ships to
safely dock.
• One explanation is that the word
wharf comes from the Old English
warft or the Old Dutch word werf,
which both evolved to mean "yard",
an outdoor place where work is
done, like a shipyard or a
lumberyard
 WHARVES

• A platform supported on pillars or

girders leading out from the shore into
a body of water, used as a landing
stage for boats.
• From Middle English pere (“bridge
pillar”), from Medieval Latin pera, from
Old Northern French pira
(“breakwater”), from Vulgar Latin
*petricus, from Latin petra.)
 BULKHEAD

• A dividing wall or barrier between

compartments in a ship, aircraft, or
other vehicle.
• It is an upright wall within the hull of a
ship or within the fuselage of an
aeroplane. Other kinds of partition
elements within a ship are decks and
deckheads.
DOLPHINS
 DOLPHINS

• A dolphin is an isolated marine structure for berthing and mooring of vessels.

• Dolphins are usually installed to provide a fixed structure when it would be
impractical to extend the shore to provide a dry-access facility. Typical uses include
extending a berth (a berthing dolphin) or providing a mooring point (a mooring
dolphin).
• Dolphins are also used to protect structures from possible impact by ships, in a
similar fashion to boating fenders
• Dolphins typically consist of a number of piles driven into the seabed or riverbed,
and connected above the water level to provide a platform or fixing point.
• Access to a dolphin may be via a pedestrian bridge in the case of mooring dolphins,
but is usually by boat.
DOLPHINS
OFFSHORE MOORINGS
 OFFSHORE MOORINGS

• Offshore moorings provide temporary or permanent berthing for ships

as well as for a wide range of floating structures including dry docks,
piers, bridges, and oil drilling/production facilities.
• Tankers are often moored at offshore moorings during oil transfer
operations.
• Floating dry docks, on the other hand, are normally secured to
permanent mooring systems.
OFFSHORE MOORINGS
How do mooring systems work?

• A mooring system is made up of a mooring line, anchor and connectors, and is used
for station keeping of a ship or floating platform in all water depths. A mooring line
connects an anchor on the seafloor to a floating structure.
• The mooring line can be made up of synthetic fiber rope, wire and chain or a
combination of the three. Environmental factors - wind, waves and currents -
determine which materials make up the mooring system.
• Chain is the most common choice for permanent moorings in shallow water up o
100 m, whereas steel wire rope is lighter weight and has a higher elasticity than
chain, which is a better choice in water depths greater than 300 m. However,
synthetic fiber rope is the lightest weight of all three.