Breakwater Port Oriel, Ireland

Port Oriel is a fishing port, located on the east coast of Ireland. The port consists of a small inland harbour basin and a pier, both built in 1885. The port has been modernised and the pier extended. The rehabilitation and extension works have been carried out by Lagan Construction. The design was prepared by RPS. Lagan Construction proposed to use the Xbloc armour unit for both technical and economical reasons.
Port Oriel is the first Xbloc application in Europe.

Placement grid model

Together with the University of Delft, DMC developed a numerical placement grid model. This numerical model was used for the first time in Ireland. Placement drawings are derived from this model. It optimises the unit position with respect to neighbouring units. The placement grid is distorted to allow for changing bottom level and curved sections; the model optimises the distorted placement grid.

Project Milestones:

July 2005:	Start of unit production
September 2005:	Drop tests
June 2006:	Start of unit placement
August 2006:	Placement of units on round head
February 2007:	Breakwater completed