Three quarters of global trade is transported by sea, and two thirds of the world's population lives in a coastal area.
Sogreah is driven by a desire to reconcile economic development, population growth and environmental conservation. We have worked on estuary, coast and port development schemes for nearly 70 years, building up specific know-how enabling us to handle complex issues. Thanks to our experts, hydraulics laboratory, library of powerful numerical models, innovative developments and project management capability, Sogreah is now one of the world's leading port and maritime engineering consultants.
- Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM)
- Coastal protection and engineering
- Seaside urban and tourist development schemes
- Sea outfalls
- Industrial terminals and coastal industrial sites
- Bays and estuaries, environmental engineering
- Breakwaters and defences
- Marinas
- Commercial ports
- Shiphandling
Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM)
ICZM is a comprehensive approach to people, environments and issues aimed at promoting the sustainable development of coastal zones, encouraging concerted action between the various players involved. To assist the bodies responsible for implementing ICZM, we draw on our vast experience of natural wetlands, coastal urban development and maritime port and tourist activities, as well as our ability to manage complex issues, regulatory constraints and the sometimes conflicting needs of stakeholders.
Bays and estuaries, environmental engineering
Bays and estuaries are sensitive, highly coveted environments and many have witnessed intensive industrial and urban development in recent decades to the detriment of their natural features, which must now be restored. This is one of Sogreah's specialist fields, and we deploy our knowledge of hydrodynamics and sedimentology, experience of mud flats and wetlands and mathematical and physical scale modelling facilities to study, explain and implement leading-edge techniques for removing polders and sustainably maintaining ecosystems.
Coastal protection and engineering
In view of current forecasts of climate change and rises in sea levels, the protection of sensitive coastal zones is having to be rethought. Sogreah is familiar with the problems of beach and coastal erosion, which it began modelling over large areas in the 1960s. We design and implement sustainable coastline management projects in various countries, and are also developing tools and information systems for monitoring coastline configuration changes.
Breakwaters, moles and jetties often form the basis of port and coastal development schemes, and Sogreah excels in the design of such structures. Since inventing the Tetrapod armouring blocks in the early 1950s, Sogreah revolutionised coastal defence techniques by introducing a much more economical single-layer armouring technique, the ACCROPODETM block, in the early 1980s. This was followed in the late 1990s by the ECOPODETM block, which blends in with the site environment and, most recently, the new-generation ACCROPODETM II. These developments are the outcome of ongoing R&D work, capitalising on lessons learned from actual project sites and our scale model experiments at our hydraulics laboratory. We propose an array of economical solutions to protect the most highly exposed maritime structures through our subsidiary CLI (Concrete Layer Innovations).
Seaside urban and tourist development schemes
Coastal areas are highly sought-after for both holidays and year-round living, and are attracting increasing numbers of people and activities. For some countries, reclaiming land from the sea is even a means of increasing their surface area. From man-made islands to marina villages and from seafront development to beach nourishment, Sogreah contributes to both conventional projects and large-scale offshore developments, while constantly endeavouring to maintain the environmental balance.
The increasing popularity of pleasure boating in recent years has resulted in overcrowded harbours, a situation which public and private authorities are striving to rectify. We use our experience in this field to create, extend or rehabilitate all types of marina, including their specific land-based and maritime infrastructure, paying particular attention to architectural integration, landscaping and environmental quality. Our expertise also covers the long-distance cruising sector and facilities for large yachts and ships.
One consequence of increasing urban development along coasts is ever larger volumes of effluent being released into the sea from wastewater treatment plants. Outfalls must be designed to ensure that effluent is dispersed and diluted without any risk of harmful effects on coastal water quality and the environment. We have used our tried and tested modelling tools to design and locate numerous sea outfalls, and have built up solid experience in this field. We also supervise outfall construction works.
As international trade has skyrocketed, commercial ports have become vast, complex installations, where numerous issues such as protection, shiphandling, traffic, mooring, stability and dredging converge. To ensure efficient operation, we draw on our planning and design experts, powerful optimisation tools and experience of building, extending and rehabilitating breakwaters, quays, and RoRo and ferry terminals.
Industrial terminals and coastal industrial sites
Shipping increasing quantities of crude oil, gas, ore and chemicals from extraction and production sites to consumer countries entails constructing maritime infrastructure suited to each product category and site. In optimising the cost and operability of such facilities, whether for export or import, we are involved as early as the preliminary design stage to identify the best sites, and then draw on our expertise in overall layout design, shiphandling, mooring, defences and landing stages during the detailed design phases. We also design cooling water intakes and outfalls for coastal industrial complexes and thermal power plants, and desalination plant intakes and outfalls. We use powerful 3D modelling tools to ensure that designs avoid risks of heated and saline water recirculation between outfalls and intakes.
As marine traffic increases, ship safety along coasts and the operability of ship manoeuvres in harbours are becoming ever more important issues. Sogreah has studied mooring and shiphandling problems for some sixty years and developed an original study centre, Port Revel, which has become a shiphandling training centre of international repute. Thanks to the know-how of the centre's instructors and some extremely powerful numerical shiphandling modelling tools, we are helping to improve the design and performance of the ports and terminals of the future.
www.portrevel.com
Alain Deforche
Head of Sogreah Maritime
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