Abstract
A crown wall is a gravity based structure on top of a rubble mound breakwater which gains stability due to its own weight and friction between the base and contact surface of the rubble mound. An experimental research is carried out in which the global stability of a crown wall is investigated depending on, amongst other things, freeboard. Until now, these structures tend to be designed in a too conservative way, when the vertical distance between base slab and water level (base freeboard) increases. It was concluded that current design methods overpredict vertical loads for increasing freeboard. By implementing a reduction factor for the upward pressure acting on the base slab of the crown wall, a better prediction can be made for the transition region between stability and failure.References
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