Concrete armour units protections for rubble mound breakwater are subject to extreme weather conditions and hazards. Over time, wave-dissipating concrete blocks can degrade or shift. If the damage is not detected in time, it can lead to very high repair costs or even a partial or total shutdown of port operations.
SEABIM®, a process patented by ID OCEAN, is a solution that allows the creation of 3D digital twins of breakwater and shore revetment armours made of precast concrete elements (Accropode™ I and II, Xbloc®, Core-Loc™, tetrapod, Antifer block, Cubipod, etc.) for a fast, detailed and optimal analysis of your structure. It is the ideal monitoring tool for the construction and asset management of your breakwater.
SEABIM® for for block placement approval
Quality control throughout the construction process
In this case, our mission is to carry out the quality control of the interlocking and imbrication of blocks. We apply the automatic installation control filters developed with the armour units designers to facilitate the placement approval such as: out of profile block, orientation, column placement, absence of contact, density defect, hole between blocks.
The input data must be a point cloud collected at regular intervals: every day, every week… These surveys can be carried out by the customer himself, we can also deploy a dedicated team on site.
Realization and delivery of the digital twin in 24 hours
Once the data is received or acquired, we provide the 3D model of the armour units shell within a few hours. Our commitment: a result delivered in 24 hours for up to 1,000 blocks to be modeled.
In this context, our tool is mainly intended for the coastal works contractor, the project manager, the artificial unit designer or an independent expert who provides technical assistance during block placement
SEABIM® for breakwater asset management
Initial state – modeling of the breakwater
Within the framework of a breakwater asset management, we intervene on already built structures in order to optimize their maintenance. To begin with, we make a first reference 3D model of the structure, in order to obtain the most accurate overview of the breakwater. To do this, we carry out a multibeam bathymetric survey for the submerged parts, coupled with photogrammetric and lidar surveys to model the aerial parts.
The 3D model enables to identify broken units and to check the quality of the blocks interlocking.
Regular monitoring of the structure evolution
Once the digital twin of the breakwater is built, we conduct follow-up surveys on a regular basis. These take place, for example, every 5 years or at important moments for the structure, such as at the end of the Completion Guarantee or following an extreme storm waves event. The customer can then carry out the survey himself or ask us to take care of it.
The 3D model we generate allows us to precisely quantify the movement of each block between the initial survey date and the last survey date.
Service provider specialized in bathymetric survey of breakwaters all over the world
Deployment of a team and dedicated mapping equipment to a site
Bathymetric surveys of breakwaters are particularly delicate and risky. Over the years, with hundreds of survey days carried out on this type of structure, we have developed a specific expertise that leads us to intervene anywhere in the world.
Our teams are experienced in projects overseas, sometimes in contexts with complicated logistics.
We also provide assistance to customers who already have an in-house data acquisition unit with technical audits.
High-performance equipment for accurate readings
High resolution sensors are required to obtain the point clouds necessary for 3D modeling.
To carry out our missions independently of visibility conditions, we deploy a multibeam acoustic sonar for the submerged parts. This is coupled to an inertial unit which provides the position and compensates for the ship’s movements while a LiDAR acquires the parts above water. When necessary, the aerial survey can be completed by photogrammetry.
Our data acquisition chain has been progressively adapted in-house for breakwater survey. All the material has been specifically chosen or designed to achieve export projects all over the world and can be installed on most vessels of opportunity available in the area.
Our teams
Engineers specialized in hydrography and inspection of coastal structures…
To carry out the measurements, we rely on our hydrographic engineers specialized in data acquisition on breakwaters and experienced in export projects overseas.
… and 3D modeling specialists to build the digital twin
To process the raw data collected by our hydrographers, we use software developed and constantly improved in-house. This is to guarantee our customers an excellent reactivity while ensuring a high level of quality and consistency of the delivered data.
The processing of the 3D data is then carried out by our expert technicians and engineers in BIM and coastal structure inspection with an optimized quality control process.
Completed projects
Customer testimonials
ID OCEAN’s SEABIM® tool was very useful for us to conduct inspection campaigns of our ACCROPODE™ II shells of the La Nouvelle Route du Littoral dikes during the work acceptance phase.
We discovered the SEABIM® process during the acceptance operations for the expansion of our commercial port’s seawall and were blown away by the quality of the results and the perspectives offered for the long-term management of this equipment
Very satisfied with my last project. It was a SEABIM® service for the bathymetric point cloud acquisition of two CORE-LOC™ shell dikes in the Sultanate of Oman, and their processing to create a digital twin.
Key figures
Over 150,000 blocks modeled with SEABIM® since 2019
References in 6 countries
They trust us
