B
Publish and Present
Angel Lim, P.E., S.E.
Senior Structural Engineer
Port of Los Angeles - Harbor Department, California
Marco Sanchez, P.E.
Civil Engineer
Port of Los Angeles
San Pedro, California
Brian Correa, P.E.
Civil Engineer
Port of Los Angeles
San Pedro, California
omar Jaradat, PhD, P.E., D.P.E., M.ASCE
VP, Structures Technical Director
Moffatt & Nichol
Costa Mesa, California
Alahesh Thurairajah, P.E., G.E., M.ASCE
Project Engineer
Earth Mechanics, Inc.
Arul Arulmoli, PhD, P.E., G.E., D.GE, F.ASCE
Principal
Earth Mechanics, Inc.
Fountain Valley, California
ABSTRACT
The Port of Los Angeles (POLA) is the largest container port in the nation, serving as a gateway to both the Southern California region and the national transportation system. Currently, POLA is upgrading several container wharves to better serve its customer base, including increasing the depth at Berths 226-232 [Everport] container terminal to accommodate larger ships.
The existing wharf at Berths 226-232 was designed in multiple phases using Design Criteria 1971, 1977, and 1985. In addition, an operational upgrade was constructed using Design Criteria 1995. Since then, the code has evolved to the current POLA Seismic Code 2010. The underwater bulkhead was designed for service/ operational conditions and the Operational Level Earthquake (OLE) event (earthquake having a 50 percent probability of exceedance in 50 years).
This paper discusses the challenges faced in performing the operational upgrade with wharves designed with various code requirements.