This course is part of ASCE's NEW Port Engineering Certificate Program.

INSTRUCTORS:  
Gayle S. Johnson, P.E., M.ASCE
Marc Percher, P.E., M.S., M.ASCE

Piers and wharves present design challenges that differ considerably from buildings and similar structures. Conventional Building Codes, Section 11 specifically, excludes piers and wharves with no public access. To standardize industry practice for piers and wharves, the port/marine industry developed a seismic design standard, ASCE 61-14, to describe the interactions and performance between pile-supported structures and geotechnical load considerations to mitigate seismic risk. This Standard uses displacement-based design methods to establish guidelines for the design of piers and wharves to withstand the effects of earthquakes. This course will help engineers and other practitioners understand the history of codes and standards, the fundamentals of seismic design, the background of ASCE 61-14 provisions, the practical implementation of seismic design for piers and wharves with illustrative examples.

This course will cover provide an overview of: 1) history of development and conflicts of current codes and standards; 2) structural systems, 3) geotechnical considerations and soil-structure interaction; 4) design classification, 5) design approach based on performance and hazard levels, 6) design methods such as performance-based design, displacement-based design, and force-based design, 7) detailing considerations and 8) ancillary components. This course will be of interest to: public and private port engineering community; civil, structural, geotechnical, utility and mechanical engineers; owners; building officials; national and international students; and academia/researchers working on marine and waterfront facilities.

View the course ouline and learn more about how these courses work.