{"id":44420,"date":"2026-02-11T16:47:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T15:47:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eucentre.it\/seismic-design-of-port-structures-course\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T08:51:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T07:51:26","slug":"seismic-design-of-port-structures-course","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.eucentre.it\/en\/seismic-design-of-port-structures-course\/","title":{"rendered":"Seismic Design Of Port Structures Course"},"content":{"rendered":"
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COURSE OBJECTIVES AND CONTENTS<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Ports<\/span><\/strong> are critical components of trading and intermodal transportation systems worldwide. They serve a pivotal role in enabling international trade, which underpins the global economy and fosters mutual interdependence among countries. Disruptions to port operations<\/strong> can have far-reaching consequences for national economies, security, and societal well-being. This has been dramatically demonstrated in recent and past earthquakes <\/strong>(e.g., Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 2010; Maule, Chile, 2010; Tohoku, Japan, 2011; Samara, Costa Rica, 2012; Kaik\u014dura, New Zealand, 2016; and Kahramanmara\u015f, T\u00fcrkiye, 2023), where severe ground shaking <\/strong>and soil liquefaction <\/strong>caused extensive damage to port facilities. In some cases, the resulting loss of port functionality persisted for years, with cascading impacts<\/strong> on trade and economic stability at both national and regional scales. Besides, since ports serve as priority entry points<\/strong> into affected areas, preservation of their functionality after an earthquake is vital for coordination of rescue and relief operations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prompted by the poor performance of some port facilities<\/strong> in recent earthquakes, research efforts worldwide have intensified over the past decades to develop improved methodologies, technical guidelines<\/strong>, and design criteria aimed at ensuring the seismic reliability, resilience, and sustainability of both existing and new port infrastructure. Contemporary approaches<\/strong> seek to integrate advanced geotechnical characterization, realistic ground-motion assessment, advanced soil\u2013structure interaction analysis, and performance-based design principles, with the overarching goal of enhancing resilience<\/strong> and sustainability<\/strong> while reducing the likelihood of system-level failures.<\/span><\/p>\n

The existing international guidelines<\/strong> for the seismic design of port structures, published in 2001 by the World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure<\/strong> (PIANC), largely reflect lessons learned more than 30 years ago from the observed seismic response of port facilities worldwide. At the time of publication, the 2001 PIANC document represented state-of-the-art<\/strong> best practice and effectively introduced performance-based design to the ports and maritime industry<\/strong>. Since then, however, numerous new codes, standards, and technical documents have been issued over the past two decades, rendering significant parts of the 2001 guidelines no longer fully aligned with current practice including modern marine construction techniques. Thus, in 2020, PIANC established Working Group 225<\/strong> (WG225) to update this seminal document so that it reflects contemporary international practice<\/strong> and provides robust, forward-looking guidance for continued use in the coming decades.<\/span><\/p>\n

This course originates from the activities of WG225 with the aim of presenting the newly developed PIANC seismic design guidelines<\/strong> for port structures to an international audience at the time of their publication. The report, expected to be published in late 2026<\/strong>, is intended to support a broad range of marine infrastructure stakeholders<\/span>–facility owners and operators, designers and practitioners, regulators, and scientists\/academics<\/span>–in jurisdictions both with and without their own design standards for marine structures<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The course is organized and coordinated by Prof. C.G. Lai and Dr. C.E. Ospina, both of whom are key contributors to PIANC WG225.<\/span><\/p>\n

The objective of this course<\/strong> is to provide participants with a rigorous and integrated understanding of the seismic behaviour of port structures<\/strong>, the underlying mechanisms governing their vulnerability, and state-of-the-art methodologies for their analysis, design, and retrofitting. The course will cover<\/strong>:<\/span><\/p>\n