Lateral and consolidation behaviors of seabed-type breakwater for very soft ground

A seabed-type of breakwater applicable to very soft ground without the need for soil improvement is newly developed. This type of soft-ground breakwater is expected to ensure sufficient lateral resistance and prevent excessive consolidation settlement due to self-weight of the breakwater. In this paper, lateral and consolidation behaviors of soft-ground breakwater were investigated by performing model tests and finite element simulations. The results revealed that the bottom wall and buoyant box, which are the main features of soft-ground breakwater, contribute to the increase in lateral resistance and to the control of the consolidation settlements, respectively, and that Terzaghi's consolidation theory could be conservatively adopted in deriving the consolidation settlements of soft-ground breakwater proposed herein.