Handbook of scour and cable protection methods

The Handbook of Scour and Cable Protection methods is the result of a multi-year research programme performed as a Joint Industry Project with the contribution of over 20 industrial partners. This project was initiated from the observation that no good and generically applicable design formulae and guidelines exist to protect offshore structures against scour. Instead, there are various existing methods and concepts that lack a sound basis for design. Different parties apply different solutions against scour around support structures with varying degrees of success. To help decision makers select the most suitable and cost-effective scour protection method for each considered situation the Joint Industry Project Handbook Scour and Cable Protection Methods (JIP HaSPro) was initiated by Deltares. Apart from this research institute, the consortium consists of a certifying body (DNV), utilities (Ørsted, RWE, Vattenfall, Scottish Power, EnBW, Shell, Equinor, Ocean Winds), suppliers (SPT Offshore, Mibau Stema, Airgroup Industries, NoRock, SSCS, Maccaferri), engineering firms (COWI, Kajima) and installation contractors (DEME Group, Boskalis, Van Oord, Jan de Nul, Tideway). The goal of this project is to develop a clear, generic and science-based comparison between different scour protection methods. In this project existing methods (based on loose rock) are optimized and new innovative scour mitigation methods are investigated (proof-of-concept) and made ready for offshore field tests. The resulting findings are presented in this Handbook of Scour and Cable Protections, which is a publicly available document after finalization. All underlying technical reports and experimental data are made publicly available as well to stimulate further development and collaboration on scour protection design within both academia and industry. Developers are actively encouraged to share field data of scour protection performance during the operational phase of wind farms to further validate and improve the present state-of-the-art of scour protection design for offshore support structures. The Handbook of Scour and Cable Protection methods is aiming to provide guidance on scour protection design. Hence, the main focus of the document is on scour mitigation strategies and scour protection design for various types of offshore support structures. For offshore wind development, monopiles are selected in 60% of the time for their simplicity and adaptability. Although the primary principles discussed in the handbook apply to other foundation types as well, the main emphasis of the material presented in the handbook and the underlying research is on monopile foundations. The handbook is divided into four main parts consisting of eleven technical chapters.