Construction Management 584
Marine Construction

Course Introduction

Welcome

Welcome to CM 584. This is a required course for the Certificate Program in Infrastructure Construction and for the distance learning Master of Science in Construction Management or Master of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering program. This course is a study of different marine structures and the construction methods and materials used in marine construction. You will have ten (10) weeks to complete all the requirements of this course.

Is This Course for You?

Each student should possess an undergraduate degree either in construction management or in civil and environmental engineering before enrolling in this course. It is assumed that all students are familiar with the basic methods and materials used in construction, basic strength of materials, and basic soil mechanics. However, at the beginning of each lesson, a list of the subjects students should know in order to understand the content of the lesson, with a short list of references will be provided.

Please note that CM 584 is developed to familiarize students with the basic marine structures, their function and the construction methods and materials. This is not a design course. However, in order to understand the function of each type of marine structure and their construction, basic design concepts and parameters affecting the performance of the structure during and after construction is completed, will be briefly described.

About the Online Environment

Your online course offers several advantages to the traditional classroom, including the comprehensive Online Student Handbook, the ability to communicate electronically with students and with your instructor, and links to a rich array of online resources.

Online Student Handbook

This handbook answers questions about your online learning course, such as how to purchase your text, schedule an exam, obtain a transcript, and get technical help if you need it. The handbook also provides additional resources, such as how to order books or journals from the library and how to study for an online course.

Communication with Your Instructor and Student Peers

• Online Discussion Forums, designed by the University of Washington award winning Catalyst team, allow you to communicate with other currently enrolled students and with your instructor. We encourage you to use the forum to exchange ideas, resources, and comments about your course work with other students in this course. This unstructured forum is monitored by your instructor.
• E-mail is a quick and efficient way to communicate with your instructor about feedback you've received on an assignment. In fact, many online students comment that they get more support and individual attention about assignments in their online class than in a traditional classroom. You can use e-mail to ask me a question or preferably post your question on the discussion forum. I will reply on the same forum.

Online Resources

As an online student, you have access to a wealth of Web resources compiled to provide fast, easy access to information that supports your online learning experience. Organized by subjects, Online Resources link you to sites with help for writing and research, study skills, language learning, and library reference materials. All links have been assessed for credibility and reliability, and they are regularly monitored to ensure their usability.

Course Objectives

When you have completed this course, you will be able to:

• Define the major issues to be considered in construction of different types of marine structures;
• Describe the basic functions of different types of marine structures;
• Define the different design and construction alternatives for a marine project;
• Select the most suitable configuration for a marine construction; and
• Select the most suitable construction method for a marine project.

Required Materials

Textbooks

The required textbook for this course is

Ben C. Gerwick Jr., Construction of Marine and Offshore Structures, 3rd ed. (Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2007).
ISBN #0849330521

The book is written to serve as a guide and reference for practicing contractors and engineers. The book is geared to the physical operations in the marine environment, their conception, planning, preparation, and execution. While the design and construction are related to each other, in this book, only broad references to the design of different types of marine structures are made, and design concepts are briefly explained.

This book is a comprehensive technical resource and some of its topics are not within the focus of this course. These topics or sections will be labeled Optional. While these topics help students to gain a broader knowledge and understanding of marine structures and are worthy to review, students should focus on the required topics.

Dr. Gerwick was a pioneer in design and construction of marine structures. His consulting firm was involved in design and construction of many major marine and offshore structures around the World. His firm also designed the port expansion project, which will be used in this course as one of the case studies.

Also, we will use the following manuals:

• Coastal Engineering Manual published by The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers. You can obtain a copy of this manual by visiting: www.usace.army.mil/inet/usace-docs/eng-manuals/em.htm (Select EM 1110-2-1100, Coastal Engineering Manual- Part I, or II, … V)
• Coastal Construction Manual published by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). A CD containing this manual will be provided to you. You can obtain a hard copy of this manual by calling 1-800-480-2520. You can obtain more information by visiting www.fema.gov.

About the Lessons

The course is organized into seven lessons. Each lesson contains a reading assignment, discussion questions, and a written assignment.

Lesson One (1 week)

• Introduction
• Physical Environmental Aspects of Marine Constructions
• Ecological and Social Impacts of Marine Construction

Lesson Two (1 week)

• Planning, Design & Construction Process

Lesson Three (1 week)

• Case Studies

Lesson Four (2 weeks)

• Geotechnical Aspects: Seafloor and Marine Soils

Lesson Five (1 week)

• Materials and Equipment for Marine Construction

Lesson Six (2 week)

• Coastal Structures - Harbor, River, and Estuary Structures

• Piles and Installation of Piles in Marine Structures
• Sheet Piles and Installation of Sheet piles
• Cofferdam

Lesson Seven (1 week)

• Shore Protection Structures
• Dredging
• Beneficial Uses of Dredged Material and Beach Renourishment

Final Project (2 weeks)

Discussion Forums

The Marine Construction course is a very complex subject which involves many engineering sciences, design concepts, materials and construction techniques. Consequently, for any problem we encounter in this field, there are many valid solutions and answers. Therefore, while many questions asked in future lessons could be answered by a simple yes or no, it is expected and required that the questions will be analyzed in depth and if it is feasible, different solutions be suggested.

At any graduate program, classroom discussion is a fundamental requirement, which help students to interact with each other and get involved in group teaching and learning. We can provide the same opportunity by participating in the weekly discussions. For each lesson, the instructor proposed a few questions; however, students can introduce additional questions for group discussion. Active participation in the discussion sessions is required and strongly recommended.

Assignments

Each lesson has an accompanying assignment that asks you apply and extend your knowledge and skills. Together these assignments are worth 35% of your final grade.

You will upload your assignments by Monday of each week to the electronic submission site linked to the course syllabus. These are due by noon (12:00 p.m. PST) on the days listed in the Course Schedule also linked to the syllabus.

Case Studies and Final Exam

In Lesson Three, two projects will be introduced as Case Study Projects. The first project will be used to describe different segments of a port construction. This project is built along a navigation canal. The second project describes construction of a major bridge project built in open water environment.

For the final exam, a project similar to the first Case Study will be provided. Students have two weeks to complete the project.

Assessment and Grading

The final grades will be computed based on the following:

• Discussion forums 25%
• Assignments 35%
• Case Study (Final Exam) 40%

Each assignment will be graded on a percentage basis with 100 being the maximum grade. The final course grade will be determined by converting the final percentage grade to one on a 4.0 basis using the following conversion scale:

Letter Grade	Decimal Grade	Percentage (%)
A	4.0 – 3.9	100 – 97.5
A-	3.8 – 3.5	97.4 –92.5
B+	3.4 – 3.2	92.4 – 88.7
B	3.1 – 2.9	88.6 – 85.0
B-	2.8 – 2.5	84.9 – 80.0
C+	2.4 – 2.2	79.9 – 76.2
C	2.1 – 1.9	76.1 – 72.5
C-	1.8 – 1.5	72.4 – 67.5
D+	1.4 – 1.2	67.4 – 63.7
D	1.1 – 0.9	63.6 – 60.0
D-	0.8 – 0.7	59.9 – 57.5
F	0 – 0.6	57.4 and below

Important Note: A grade of 2.7 or above must be earned if the course is to count toward a Master of Science degree.

About the Developer

Saeed Daniali, Ph.D. Structural Engineering, PE, S.E.

Professor Daniali is a full-time faculty member at the Department of Construction Management at the University of Washington. He is the P.D. Koon Endowed Professor for Sustainable Build Environment. Dr. Daniali served as the chair of the Department Construction Management from 1997 to 2002. Prior to joining the University of Washington, he was the lead structural engineering faculty at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas.

Professor Daniali received his Ph.D. in structural engineering from University of Lille, France, an M.S. degree in structural engineering from the College of Engineering of Strasbourg, France, and a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Tehran Polytechnique (Amir Kabir University), Iran.

Dr. Daniali is an active consulting engineer. He is an expert in the fields of forensic engineering, value engineering, and marine construction. His major research activities involve the development of new materials, polymer composites, and non-corrosive materials.

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