IHCantabria collaborates in the improvement of the Port of Antofagasta, Chile
From right to left, Beatriz Rodríguez (IHCantabria) poses with representatives of the Port of Antofagasta, Chile, and the international engineering consulting firm Royal HaskoningDHV, from the Netherlands, at the facilities of the Directional Wave Tank of the School of Civil Engineering of the University of Cantabria.
Representatives of Puerto Antofagasta visited IHCantabria’s facilities and, together with representatives of the Dutch company Royal HaskoningDHV, reviewed the tests in the UC’s surge tank.
The Institute of Environmental Hydraulics of the University of Cantabria (IHCantabria) received a visit from representatives of Puerto Antofagasta, Chile, who came to verify the results of the 3D physical model tests of the Antofagasta Port main breakwater enlargement project.
The tests are being carried out in the Directional Wave Tank at the School of Civil Engineering of the University of Cantabria. The commission that is supervising the results of these tests is made up of Carlos Escobar Olguín, General Manager of Puerto Antofagasta; Diego Herrera Hip, Planning and Development Manager, and Mark Bindhoff, General Manager of Antofagasta Terminal Internacional. Also participating are representatives of the Dutch company Royal HaskoningDHV, Sjoerd Warringa and Guido Wolters, who are providing technical assistance for the project. Taking advantage of their stay, the members of this international commission also visited the Port Authority of Santander and the facilities of IHCantabria, in order to explore synergies between these institutions.
The General Manager of Puerto Antofagasta, Carlos Escobar Olguín, noted that “the initiation and supervision of these tests represents a fundamental step in the technical validation process of the project, which will allow engineering decisions to be made based on scientific evidence and high technical standards. This stage confirms our commitment to a modern, safe and secure port infrastructure, ready to respond to the new requirements of the maritime industry”.
Francisco Royano, Director of Technology Transfer of IHCantabria, says that “from IHCantabria, we are proud to collaborate in such a relevant project for the improvement of the port infrastructure of Antofagasta. This assignment represents a recognition of the experience and technical capacity of our team in the field of maritime engineering, for which we are grateful for the trust placed in IHCantabria by Puerto Antofagasta and Royal HaskoningDHV”.
Motivation of trials
The Port of Antofagasta, located in the homonymous region of Chile, under certain adverse oceanographic conditions, experiences a certain limitation in navigation and operational conditions in the mooring of ships. To improve the port’s operability and service to its customers, Empresa Portuaria de Antofagasta (EPA) awarded the consulting contract for the “Detailed Engineering of the Main Pier Expansion” to the company FGMi, together with Royal HaskoningDHV.
As part of this project, an 85-meter-long breakwater extension was designed, consisting of a rock rock fill and a vertical block wall. To verify the feasibility of the design, the EPA asked IHCantabria to conduct physical tests on a scaled seawall under the action of a three-dimensional wave field.
Project details and methodology
The study aims to evaluate the structural stability of the breakwater, focusing on the resistance of the block wall to external forces, the stability of the pedraplén and the behavior of the blocks at the base of the wall. The tests are being carried out in the Directional Wave Tank of the University of Cantabria, on a dike of the same geometry simulated at a scale of 1/37.5 on which significant waves of up to 5.2 meters will be launched, at the same scale.
For design validation, a hybrid model was adopted, combining a section with individual blocks and a monolithic section, in order to evaluate different structural failure modes.
Deadlines and expected results
The project began on February 10, 2025 and is scheduled to end on May 22, 2025. During its execution, interim reports are scheduled to be presented with the results obtained and, at the end of the study, a final report will be delivered, detailing the methodology used and the conclusions drawn.
With these tests, EPA will be able to make informed decisions on optimizing breakwater design and will be able to improve the port’s operational efficiency, reducing its downtime without compromising maritime safety.
