PRDW is highly experienced in port seismic design in Latin America including projects built in Chile, Peru and Uruguay. 50% of global seismic energy has been released on the coast of South America, mainly in Chile and Peru. The largest earthquake in the world was the Valdivia 1960, with a Richter magnitude Ms=9.5. Therefore the capability to perform seismic design has been key for PRDW.

PRDW are pioneers in Chile in designing a marginal wharf considering earthquake effects on sloping rock fill like the new berth in San Antonio Port. Also, Coronel Port design includes isolation systems – the first in the world to implement seismic isolation with a hybrid technique.

In addition, PRDW have designed a set of port structures already tested during important earthquakes in South America. All of those port facilities designed by PRDW exhibited excellent performance during significant earthquakes.

The experience gained by PRDW staff on seismic design constitutes one of the most important features of the group.

PRDW performs seismic design following the current methodologies and design codes :

• PIANC
• API
• ASCE
• COPRI
• OCDI
• Port of Long Beach
• Port of Los Angeles

The use of the latest technology in seismic design is a key objective of the PRDW group. Seismic isolators have been successfully used on Coronel Port and currently the introduction of AMS (Tuned Mass Dampers) devices have been explored.

The soil behaviour during seismic events is an important aspect of seismic design especially due to liquefaction and lateral spreading effects. PRDW has developed advanced studies and analysis methods to adequately model the soil behaviour under strong earthquake motions