PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING OF JETTY PIER AND COASTAL

PROTECTION OF A COAL-FIRED POWER PLANT

ALONG MINDANAO COAST
Eric C. Cruz 1, 2

Egbert B. Abiad 1

Institute of Civil Engineering, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City; and
Water Engineering Specialty Division, Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers
Email: eric.cruz@upd.edu.ph
2
AMH Philippines, Inc., Bahay ng Alumni Bldg., UP Diliman Campus, Quezon City

Abstract: This paper presents a preliminary engineering undertaking of a coastal power plant along northern
Mindanao, involving the optimal horizontal siting of the plants cargo pier and wharf, and the conceptualization and
hydraulic design of the protective structure for the coasts observed erosion. The methodology uses simulative analyses of
typhoon-induced local waves and storm tide levels to determine the critical water level and wave conditions to quantify the
environment loadings on the facilities. Prior to preliminary engineering, an optimal siting of the plants coal jetty and
unloading wharf based on least exposure to the highest waves. Concept and initial plan-form layout of suitable coastal
protection are based on an analysis of simulated maximum storm wave runup. Finally, hydraulic design of the structures
cross-section is based on computed design water levels and maximum waves, existing topography, and on the plants site
development plan.
Key words: pier, bulk cargo, revetment, storm surge, waves
1

INTRODUCTION

Several coal-fired power plants are being built along the

Philippine archipelago to address the projected shortfall of
electric power by mid-2015. Based on government forecast,
demand for energy will double in the next 20 years driven by
the requirements of the transport and energy sectors, and that
oil will continue to be the major fuel for transport while coal
will remain as major fuel for power generation. In recent
years, thermal power plants utilizing coal as fuel have been
built and commissioned along the northern Mindanao coast,
which is widely considered to be a relatively safe coastline
along typhoon-prone Philippine coasts. However, recent
strong typhoons have made it imperative to plan the power
plant and undertake engineering design by considering these
potentially disastrous natural hazards.
Due mainly to its cost-effectiveness in terms of peso per
MW of installed capacity, thermal power plants are still the
preferred plant type for industries for power generation. Coal
is still found to be the cheapest source of energy for power
generation. Coal-fired thermal power plants are typically
located near the coasts, mainly due to the availability of a
vast and perpetual source of good water for cooling down
the plants condensation units. Since coal is considered a
bulk cargo, it can be more effectively handled at seaports
where it can be directly transported to the ash depots via
conveyers connected to the coal bins of the transport ships.

COASTAL THERMAL PLANTS

Electric power in the country is produced from various

sources such as hydro-electric and thermal plants. Recently,
the country experienced significant supplementation from
renewable energy sources from geothermal, natural gas,
solar photo-voltaic sources, and wind-driven and ocean-tidedriven turbines. While the country has a nuclear power plant
in Bataan Province that was completed in 1984, the plant
was never fueled nor operated due to public concerns on its
safety in the backdrop of a hazardous seismic location
(Wikipedia, 2014).
In terms of total energy produced annually, thermal sources,
including coal-fired power plants, provided the highest
percentage throughout the country. Due primarily to the
innate difficulty of distributing power to the various islands
of the archipelago, the cost of on-grid energy in the
Philippines is considered to be one of the highest in
Southeast Asia. Among the thermal plants, coal-fired is still
considered to be the most cost-effective in terms of
capitalization per megawatt of power. In 2013, as a result of
the much-improved peace and order conditions in the
Mindanao region and of attractive economic incentives laid
out by the government, power plant rehabilitation,
refurbishment and construction have all become active.
Geographically, Luzon island has taken the largest share of
the national power grid, with 11.74 GW of installed capacity
while the Visayan region had 2.4 GW as of 2012 (Petilla,

2015 PICE National Midyear Convention, Davao City, 28-30 May 2015

2013). Mainly due to its improving security situation, the

Mindanao region would have about 588 MW of additional
capacity to be commissioned from 2013 to 2015 (Tamang,
2013). Thermal plants, which need a dependable source of
cooling water, still dominates the power pie, with 72.4% of
all power in Luzon, 59.2% in Visayas, and 85% of 20132015 power to be added to Mindanao.
A coal-fired power plant (CFP) is normally built close to a
water body such as a bay or seacoast so that water can be
readily withdrawn and returned by the plant for its cooling
and other operations. The plant itself may consist of a power
block that actually generates the power, and a fuel block,
where the fuel is stockpiled, stored, conveyed and, in some
plant types, re-processed for downstream uses. Various
facilities are needed in each component but for the fuel
block, the coal-unloading facilities are perhaps the most
capital-intensive and most visible infrastructures needed.
Beside a coal-unloading pier, other marine infrastructures of
the CFP include a cooling-water intake, a warm-water outfall,
and a separate shore-connected wharf where smaller vessels
can dock and safely moor.
In addition to having access to voluminous water that is
naturally replenished, a power plant also needs to be in a
suitable site to be relatively protected from the perpetual
forces of tides, waves and currents. While bays and recessed
coasts provide natural shelter from prevailing waves and
currents, embayed coasts are not best for the re-circulation
of heated water discharged from the plant. The plume of
warm water needs to be extended out to a deeper zone of the
adjoining sea to effect significant dispersion and advection
of the plume by natural currents and passing waves. If the
bay is along a sea that is tracked by typhoons, these curved
coasts may also be exposed to the natural hazards of
typhoons.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The project site is alongside of Misamis Oriental. It is

approximately 50 km by road travel along the national
highway from Cagayan de Oro (Figure 1). The new airport
(Laguindingan Airport) is about 30 km from Cagayan de
Oro City, while the old airport (Lumbia Airport) is
approximately 10 km from the city. The site is fronting
Macajalar Bay, and is located immediately north of
Balatucan River. The project coast is bounded to the south
by the outfall of Balatucan River, which drains a catchment
area of 160 square km, and to the north, by a shore-attached
coral reef. Constancia Reef, a shore-detached formation lies
about 1.8 km northeast of the project coast.

Fig. 1 Project location

Fig. 2 Project coast and features

OPTIMAL SITING OF COAL JETTY PIER

The horizontal siting of seaports follows the principle of

least resistance to the natural loads, which are the waves,
tides and currents. Since ports operate during normal, on
non-storm, conditions, they are situated along the coastline
considering mainly the prevailing local waves induced by
offshore prevailing winds. The procedure followed is based
on the methodology typically followed for optimal siting of
Philippine seaports (Cruz and Kasilag, 2009).
Table 1. Deepwater wave hindcast
Vel
Direction range
m/s
1-4

Annual
Effective
Occurrence
Fetch
Frequency
(km)
%
30.3

Deepwater
waves
Remark
Hs
(m)

Ts
(s)

0.35

3.11

0.74

4.07

0.35

3.11

37.1
5-8

0.1

1-4

10.7

NNW

2nd highest

74.6
5-8

0.1

1.05

5.14

NW

1-4

3.1

118.1

0.55

3.90

WNW

1-4

0.2

143.1

0.55

3.90

1-4

1.4

132.9

0.55

3.90

WSW

1-4

0.6

96.5

0.55

3.90

SW

1-4

7.0

43.9

0.50

3.69

2015 PICE National Midyear Convention, Davao City, 28-30 May 2015

highest

3rd highest

th

4 highest

Wave conditions in deep water corresponding to these nonstorm winds are estimated using standard deep water
hindcasting methods such as the SMB technique (CEM,
2004). Table 1 summarizes these deepwater wave conditions
for the project coast based on the wind rose diagram at the
nearest PAGASA wind station in Cagayan de Oro airport.
In order to determine the local wave conditions within the
project coasts nearshore region where the marine
infrastructures are located, a nearshore wave transformation
numerical model is applied. The wave simulation program
applied is based on a mathematical model of the threedimensional wave transformation as forced by the nearshore
bathymetry, wave nonlinearity (ratio of wave height to water
depth), wave shoaling and refraction, diffraction due to
submarine shoals, wave energy damping mechanisms by
bottom friction, turbulence and seabed porosity, and the
wave energy dissipation by the breaking of waves in shallow
waters (Cruz, 2003).
The input data to the model are: (1) nearshore depth
distribution (bathymetry); (2) incident wave conditions
including wave height, period, approach direction; (3) wave
model parameters such as wave breaking coefficients; (4)
data of local bathymetric features, such as islands and shoals,
if any; and (5) numerical simulation parameters such as grid
size. The program computes the water surface configuration
and fluid particle velocities at all grid points in the
computational domain. A post-processing module then
computes the wave heights and other quantities such as nearbed velocities and wave directions. An image of the water
surface under wave action is obtained from the water surface
displacements when plotted. The wave field corresponds to
the distribution of wave height in the entire computation
domain or portions thereof.
Numerical simulations of the prevailing offshore wave
conditions summarized in table 2 were carried out to
determine the wave height distributions in the project
nearshore area. For each wave approach direction, the sea
surface is set to the mean tide, the mean low tide MLLW,
and the mean high tide MHHW levels. For almost all
directions, the highest nearshore waves are found occur
during the high tide. This is mainly due to the migration
shoreward of the wave breaking zones. Figure 3 shows the
results for the three highest offshore waves, namely, north
northwest, north, and west. It is clear that the submerged
surface of Constancia Reef, located northwest of the project
coast, caused considerable focusing of wave energy to a long
swath to the rear of the reef. The uneven distribution of wave
heights along the -13m depth contour, where waves are seen
to break, can thus effect the tranquility of ships that are more
in that depth zone.

Fig. 3 Wave heights and energy concentration patterns due

to highest 3 prevailing waves, i.e. from NNW (top), North
(middle), and West (bottom); all at high tide level MHHW.

The orientation of the jetty is based on the wave climate at

prevailing wind conditions and the expected approach
maneuver of the ship. Considering the prevailing and highest
local waves at non-storm conditions and the ship maneuvers
during ingress and egress to/from the jetty, the optimal
orientation of the jetty and the alignment of the connecting
trestle have been laid out and are shown in Figure 4. Scheme
2 is almost identical to the original proposal Scheme 1,
except that the jetty orientation is a bit rotated and has a
trestle alignment that is parallel to Scheme 1. Based on the
wave numerical simulations, Scheme 2 has generally lower
waves than in Scheme 1 at the location of the ships seaward
side.

2015 PICE National Midyear Convention, Davao City, 28-30 May 2015

On the sole basis of minimum trestle length, Scheme 2 is

recommended over Scheme 1 as it has a lower cost of
superstructure on water and on land. Scheme 2 also has the
jetty located in a somewhat calmer wave region during nonstorm conditions (see Figure 3), which matters considerably
for smaller vessels that dock in the jetty, but less importantly
for larger ships. This recommendation, however, does not
consider the site development plan for the plant area itself.
For example, Scheme 1 may be the better site if the location
of the required coal handling area in the plant site is taken
into account.

Fig. 5 Definition sketch for storm tide and wave height

Fig. 4 Optimized location and orientation of coal jetty

VERTICAL SITING OF PIER DECK

The pier deck of the jetty is ideally sited above the minimum
required non-overtopping elevation of offshore structures.
The methodology considers the following components: (1)
storm tide, (2) local wave height, and (3) interaction of local
waves and the coast. In order to safely site the deck, the more
critical contribution of storm surges and storm waves during
typhoons is considered. Following the methodology in Cruz
and Luna (2014), a summary of the storm tide level (STL)
for five potentially critical historical typhoons that tracked
the project coast is summarized in Table 2.
Table 2. Calculated storm tide level

STORM TIDE LEVEL DETERMINATION

Small-scale local processes influence the maximum water

surface elevation as the storm moves inland. These processes
allow the storm waves to interact with the foreshore terrain
as well as with coastal infrastructures, natural coasts
(beaches, bluffs, mangroves, etc.), and built structures
(houses, buildings, etc.). Local processes such as diffraction
around obstructions, breaking of waves in the surf zone,
refraction and shoaling in the shallow water region also
affect the height and direction of the waves as they reach the
coasts. Such wave-coast interactions also contribute to the
water surface elevation that wave crests reach inland.
Additional data are needed to include such wave effects in
the calculations of maximum water surface elevation. These
data include the wave conditions, seabed slope and terrain,
breaking location, structure alignment and hydraulic
characteristics. In front of reflective infrastructures such as
seawalls and bulkheads, additional mean water level
uplifting is induced by the so-called clapotis effect of
reflected waves.
Figure 5 illustrates the superposition of astronomic tide,
storm surge, waves and wave-coast interaction on the coast
and the backshore.

Typhoon
Case Intern./
Local

Date

Astron. Storm
Tide surge
(m)
(m)

Haiyan/ 2013- (From Yasuda,

Yolanda 11- 08
2014)

Bopha/
Pablo

12/04/
2012

0.710

Kate/
Titang

10/15/
1970

Mamie/
Akang

Historical Possible
Storm
Storm
Tide
Tide
(m)
(m)
0.50

1.02

0.29

1.00

1.02

0.710

0.00

0.71

1.02

3/16/
1982

0.710

0.12

0.83

1.02

Washi/ 12/15/
Sendong 2011

0.710

0.21

0.92

1.02

It is seen that the historical storm tides are in the order

of 1.0 m. Typhoon Pablo (Bopha), which occurred in
2012, likely induced the greatest storm tide, due to a st
orm surge of 0.29 m.
[Wave height component of vertical siting]

2015 PICE National Midyear Convention, Davao City, 28-30 May 2015

Fig. 6 Simulated wave field and wave heights due to

Typhoon Pablo
[Summary of non-overtopping elevation]

Table 3. Summary of vertical siting

Wave
Case Height
(m)

Wave
Period
(s)

Wave
Crest
(m)

Minimum
WaveVertical
Structure
Siting
Effects
from MSL
(m)
(m)

1.0

15.9

0.60

0.00

1.62

2.43

10.2

1.41

-0.02

2.41

1.29

7.4

0.68

-0.01

1.69

1.72

8.1

0.94

-0.01

1.95

1.14

7.6

0.59

-0.01

1.61

Fig. 7. Inland limits of storm wave runup due to historical

typhoons Yolanda 2013 (left) and Pablo 2012 (right)

[Computed storm wave runup due to Yolanda and Pablo]

Table 4. Storm runup elevation

Transect
1
2
3
4
5

DESIGN OF COASTAL PROTECTION

[rationale]
.

Highest runup Crest Elevation

elevation
(m above
(m above MSL)
MSL)
1.92
4.60
1.34
4.60
2.65
4.60
2.66
4.60
2.47
4.60

[engineering design of coastal revetment]

2015 PICE National Midyear Convention, Davao City, 28-30 May 2015

REFERENCES

Fig. 8 Recommended coastal revetment

CONCLUSIONS

A methodology for the preliminary engineering of two of the

most important coastal infrastructures of a coal-fired power
plant is presented and discussed. The coal jetty, which serves
as the main facility for the docking of the transport ship, and
for the conveyance of coal to the land-based ash yard or
depot, is optimally sited based on its bathymetric draft
requirement and least exposure to prevailing local non-storm
waves. The horizontal siting makes extensive use of
nearshore wave simulative analyses to identify regions of
lowest wave energy concentrations for all the major wave
approach directions offshore. The synthesis of the simulative
analyses also indicate the optimal layout of the jetty and,
when considered together with the ship operations and
dimensions, will logically indicate the optimal orientation of
the jetty, and thus the least agitated mooring condition for
the ship.
Once the location and layout of the coal jetty is selected, the
vertical siting of the pier deck is based on a determination of
the minimum elevation that would likely be not overtopped
by the most critical historical typhoon that tracked the
project coast. This vertical siting considers the storm surge,
astronomic tide, and typhoon-induced waves.
A methodology for the preliminary engineering of a coastal
protection for the plants coast is also presented, which, in
addition to the determination of the typhoon-based vertical
siting, considers the storm wave runup on the coastal slope.
The methodologies are shown applied to the preliminary
engineering of the coal jetty and coastal protection of a coalfired power plant in Misamis Oriental in northern Mindanao.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors acknowledge the assistance of Engrs. Ismael
Aragorn Inocencio, Marjorie Turiano, and Julius Giron of
AMH Philippines, Inc. in preparing the graphical images.

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2015 PICE National Midyear Convention, Davao City, 28-30 May 2015