Defining wind limits in ports and approaching fairways

An essential part of the harbour and fairway design is to understand the local wind conditions. This is especially true when designing harbour lay-out and defining required protection against wind waves. But also the lateral space required for a shipping channel and for a turning basin are heavily dependent on the wind conditions. This paper describes the use of the wind tunnel technology and the ship handling simulators to define the local wind limits in posts and approaching fairways. First the local wind velocity in selected points will be determined using the scale model in a sub-sonic wind tunnel. The results of the measurements will then be transferred to the ship handling simulator, thus the realistic wind effect with local sheltering and turbulence effects affecting the manoeuvring will be undertaken. Both manual and computer driven fast-time simulations are used. In order to get general information regarding the wind problems in European ports a questionnaire survey was performed: an inquiry form was sent to the largest ports in Europe. This paper gives a brief summary of this study, too.