The Tenth East Asia-Pacific Conference on Structural Engineering and Construction

August 3-5, 2006, Bangkok, Thailand

BARGE TRANSPORTATION ANALYSIS AND LOAD-OUT ACTIVITIES IN

MODULAR CONSTRUCTION

Mrudul A. THAKAR1 and Rahul P. JANI1

ABSTRACT: For most construction sites experiencing severe weather conditions, modular
construction is probably the only cost and schedule effective solution. Module fabrication sites are
normally located far away from the actual job site and completed modules are required to be land /
ocean transported to the job site. These large sized barges, while transporting the huge modules,
experience rolling, pitching and heaving motion from the waves, the intensities of which largely
depend upon the sea-route considered for transportation, sea conditions, head winds, size of barge,
design draft, geometry & weight of modules being transported etc. Secondly, due to variations of wave
length (distance of peak to peak of waves), relative stiffness of barge with that of the module and the
instantaneous locations of the barge with respect to the waves, the barge also experiences hog and sag
characteristics which in turn causes stress concentration in the module structure. The above mentioned
phenomena induce huge accelerations on mass inside the structure, the magnitude of which primarily
depend on the geometry of the module & the mass distribution along the height of the module. Hence
it is imperative to understand the behavior of the module structure during ocean transportation and
check the strength and serviceability requirements of the same. The result will primarily depend upon
the combined stiffness of the barge and module structure. This paper focuses on the entire process of
marine transportation, design consideration, analysis philosophy, boundary condition simulation in
analysis software, sea fastening details, Load out activity etc. The author, by taking case study of a
project recently executed in Russia, has laid down the guidelines for behavioral simulation and
analysis of modules during ocean transportation.
KEYWORDS: Modular-Construction, Barge, Analysis, Loadout.
1. INTRODUCTION:
Modules for off-shore / on-shore projects are mainly transported on barges during ocean
transportation. Barges are special type of floating vessels mainly made of steel, designed to carry huge
equipment/containers/modules. While transporting the huge modules, these barges experience rolling,
pitching, and heaving motions from the combined action of waves, wind etc. The intensities of these
motions largely depend upon the particular sea-rout considered for transportation, prevailing sea
conditions head winds, size of barge, design draft, geometry and weight of modules being transported.
In addition to this, there are parameters such as variation of wavelength of the waves, relative stiffness
of barge with respect to that of the module and the instantaneous location of the barge with respect to
the waves which dictates the specific characteristic of the internal stress distribution within the barge
structure and the module. Depending on the instantaneous location of the barge with respect to the
waves, the same also experiences hog and sag characteristics which in turn cause high stress
concentration in the module structure and is predominantly dependant on relative stiffness of the barge
to that of the module. The hog condition bending moment puts the top deck of the barge in tension and
1

Associate Design Engineer II, Fluor Daniel India Pvt. Ltd., India

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the bottom plating in compression and vice versa in case of sag conditions. The above mentioned
phenomena together with the combined action of roll, pitch and heave induce high magnitudes of
acceleration on concentrated and distributed mass inside the structure, the magnitude of which
primarily depends on the geometry of the module and the mass distribution along the height of the
module.

Figure 1. Co-ordinate axes and principle directions of vessels motion & motion generated forces

Most of the marine consultants around the world do have softwares which are capable of simulating
this complicated dynamic behavior through fluid-structure interaction, hydro-dynamics loads
definition, detailed study of combined action of waves / wind etc. This paper outlines the simplified
approach of simulation of this dynamic behavior into static three dimensional analysis of the module
structure with suitable boundary conditions & assumptions.
The whole process of load-out / barge transportation / offload involves five parties working as a team;
they are the Engineering Contractor, Marine Contractor, Naval Architect, Voyage Approver and the
Logistics & Sea-Lift Operations. The interface between these parties is not covered in this paper.
2. ANALYSIS SIMULATION, BOUNDARY CONDITIONS & DESIGN CONSIDERATION:
2.1 ANALYSIS PHILOSOPHY AND DESIGN GUIDELINES
The engineering contractor normally uses the typical on-site structural model and modifies the same
for Ocean Transportation Analysis. The Empty Load Condition of the model is used to generate load
distribution at different elevations. Normally hundred percent of the empty vertical loads are applied in
each horizontal orthogonal direction as basic load cases. While working with load combinations, each
of these basic load cases which are primarily hundred percent of gravity loads applied in horizontal
directions at respective elevations, are multiplied with the corresponding applicable acceleration
coefficients to simulate dynamic behavior of the module and ultimately determine base shear &
moments to be utilized for individual member & component design (Acceleration coefficients are
specified by Naval architect based on the sea route and weather conditions). The column reactions at
the base are transmitted to the marine contractor to check strength and stability adequacy of the barge.
For this analysis, typically three dimensional static analysis is carried out by the engineering
contractor. It is very important to simulate and impart fairly accurate boundary conditions to the
module structure to depict actual behavior of the same and its interface with barge structure. Thus
determination of boundary conditions would be based on the above mentioned philosophy and would
primarily depend upon stiffness of the barge deck on which the module is supported. Usually, the
module is placed on transportation beams to spread the load. Each base column of the module is
supported on transverse transportation beams (Refer figure on pg. 5) and has restraining module tiedown clips to prevent relative displacement in horizontal directions & avoid the module lifting off the
transportation beams. The transportation beams are placed on the barge deck and are typically tied

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down with the sea-fastening clips normally welded to the barge deck. This is illustrated later in a
different section of this paper (Refer page 5). The barge deck plate is supported at the bottom by a
network of vertical frames and Bulkheads (Vertical Plates).

Figure 2. Load lumped at a particular level in longitudinal direction

The stiffness of these vertical frames differs significantly with that of the bulkheads and is taken into
consideration for determination of boundary condition (Stiffness of these vertical frames and
bulkheads are provided by the Marine Contractor). Transportation beams which support the module
base columns are placed longitudinally along the length of the barge deck based on the stowage plan
developed by the marine contractor. These longitudinal beams would experience variable stiffness at
the bottom based on their respective location over a bulkhead or over a vertical frame. In addition to
this, the transportation beams would also undergo elastic deformation / settlement due to barge sag /
hog characteristics experienced by the barge. Hence a combination of these two impacts the nature and
degree of internal stresses developed within transportation beams and module structure.
The analysis can be done by adopting either of the following methods:
i)

Modeling of transportation beams for each of the modules and analyzing the same as an
integral part of the module structure. The following steps are followed:
For each case of sag & hog deformation, determination of respective deflections at
locations of barge frame / bulkhead derived out of deformation profile generated from
input provided by the marine contractor. Usually maximum deflections at the center of the
barge are provided for Head Sag / Head Hog / Quarter Sag / Quarter Hog conditions. The
deflections at the ends would be zero. Sag & Hog deformations at intermediate locations
would be determined based on parabolic distribution.
Creation of node points on transportation beams at locations of barge frames & barge
bulkheads.
Introduction of vertical dummy members (one corresponding to stiffness of bulkhead and
one for barge frame) at each of those node points with pinned boundary conditions at the
lower most joint. The geometric property of the vertical members would be such that the
axial stiffness of the same matches the corresponding vertical stiffness of barge frame /
bulkhead at that location.
Input of lateral stiffness coefficients (spring restraints), if any, at top node of these dummy
members.
Analyze the module structure + transportation beams for load conditions of Transverse
Roll & Heave / Longitudinal Pitch & Heave.
Separate load case is generated by introducing elastic settlement values at the bottom node
of the added dummy members. This would be for corresponding Head Sag / Head Hog /
Quarter Sag / Quarter Hog conditions.

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 The results of these two analyses would be combined algebraically to determine maximum
impact.
ii)

The most heavily loaded module is considered for analysis and design of transportation
beams which is adopted for all modules. The analysis philosophy of the module structure
almost remains the same with the exception, that the dummy member in this case is
modeled at the base of each base column. The rest of the steps would be similar to the
ones mentioned for method i. Figure 3 shows boundary conditions modeled in RISA 3D.

Figure 3. 3-D View of Module and Dummy Member

Typically, the stiffness of the bulkhead varies from 35000 kips / in to 50000 kips/in and that of the
frames would be in the region of 2500 kips/in to 5000 kips/in.
2.2 SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS
Consideration for fatigue analysis & design may be important for voyages typically more than
fourteen days. The nature of impact is highly dependant on sea conditions, relative stiffness of the
module structure / barge and sea fastening design adopted to secure the module structure to the barge.
3. ACCELERATIONS:
As mentioned earlier, during voyage, the barge experiences rolling, pitching and heaving due to
combination of waves, wind conditions as well as module geometry. As a result of this, accelerations
are induced on masses distributed throughout the structure. These accelerations are provided by the
Naval Architects based on the sea route and prevalent weather conditions expected during the time of
transportation. Based on the geometry and the mass distribution along the height of the module, these
accelerations induce stresses in the structure.
These lateral acceleration coefficient are a function of the distance of mass above the sea level. These
coefficients are multiplied with the mass lumped at different levels. Adjustments are made from the
comparison of the vertical COG determined by analysis software and vertical COG determined from
weight report (Weight report is report generated by every discipline indicating its component weight in
the module and vertical COG). The height above the deck is determined as the height down to the
module base plate plus the difference in the vertical COG (software generated v/s weight report). The
lateral accelerations are determined based on this height. The recommended barge draft plays an
important role to determine the final acceleration coefficients.
4. MODULE DEFORMATIONS DURING OCEAN TRANSPORTATION:
The behavior of module during the transportation, taking into effect the Sag and Hog deflections along
with the barge accelerations can be best known by studying its deflected shapes for different load

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combinations. Below shown are some of the deflected shapes of one of the module analyzed and
designed.

Figure 4. Module Longitudinal frame deflected shape for sag & hog condition

5. Barge Transportation beams & Tie down clip (Sea Fastening):

Spacing between the barge frames/bulkheads does not necessarily match the spacing of module stubcolumns. The barge deck consists of plates, which cannot take the loads transferred by the module
stub-columns. Hence the module stub-columns were placed on the transportation beams, which
transferred the vertical load to the vertical frames/bulkheads.
Also it is necessary to restrain the module against any uplift or horizontal movement during the
voyage caused due to the forces generated by accelerations and sag/hog deflections as mentioned
above. These transportation beams, on which the module stub-columns are placed, are tied to the barge
to arrest any movement during the voyage. The design of these clips is carried out based on the
maximum support reactions obtained for barge transportation condition.
The design of these barge clips can be done by adopting the following procedure:

From the barge stow plans, locate the position of barge structural frames with respect to the
module stub columns.

Figure 5. Model shot showing Transportation Beam and Barge Clips to avoid transverse and
longitudinal movement and uplift

For transverse sea-fasteners (Barge Clips), there will be four clips per stub column. These
clips will be located on the centerline of each transverse transportation beam. The transverse
column reaction will be resisted by two clips through bearing to the barge plating and the
reverse load will be resisted by the clips on opposite side.

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For longitudinal sea-fastening, one clip shall be located between the two Stub columns located
nearest the module geometric centre.
Compression loads are resisted through bearing on the barge deck.
For stub column uplift, a minimum of one clip (on barge frame) needs to be located between
stub columns, and at-least one clip shall be provided at both the ends of each longitudinal
transportation beam. Clips shall be sized from a force based on distances to the adjacent stub
columns.

6. Load out Activity:

Load-out activity is the activity by which the module is loaded into the barge and sent for voyage.
This whole load out activity is divided into number of small sub-activities. The sub-activities are
aligned as follows.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Preparation of stow plans locating column to barge frame.

Design of Sea-Fastening & Develop load-out plans based on Voyage approvers requirement.
Fabricate sea-fastenings for modules.
Monitor & Provide daily weather reports.
Tie-up barge to dock on arrival & install walkway from dock to top of barge.
Layout location of module & setup of barge transportation beams on barge deck.
Move module along route and load on to barge.
Ballasting/De-ballasting of barge as required to keep the barge evenly balanced in the dock
during the transfer of module.
9. Install sea-fastening & Sail-away.

7. Conclusion:
Important factors affecting the engineering of the module to be transported are the properties of barge,
i.e. Overall stiffness of barge with respect to module stiffness, barge deck stiffness. These properties
govern the sag & hog deflections of module during transportation & support condition necessary for
analysis of the module. Selection of sea-route and voyage time is important as they decide the
acceleration coefficients resulting from combined action of wind and sea waves. These accelerations
coefficients might be higher than the seismic coefficients with module having huge height.
The whole process of Barge transportation involves five parties. The most important factor for
successful load-out / barge transportation / off-load is the interface management & co-ordination
between all the parties involved. Planning between groups, exchange of correct data from one party to
another within schedule and utilizing the data for subsequent planning / analysis is the key.
People at the job site who receive the modules would like to see the same being transported without
any damage. Such damages can be critical and would definitely affect the hook-up and commissioning
activities. Labor at the jobsite, to fix such damages might be expensive and should be avoided.
8. Acknowledgement:
The Authors are thankful to P4 committee of Fluor Daniel, India for their continued support. The
Authors are also indebted to Mr. Anindya Gaine (Lead Structural Engg., Fluor Daniel India Pvt. Ltd),
Sunil Sarvaiya (Area Lead Structural Engg., Fluor Daniel, India) and Mr. C. G. Shastry (DM, Fluor
Daniel, India) for their encouragement, guidance & support provided while writing this paper.
9. References:
RISA 3D.

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