ABSTRACT

Instability of the seabed under the action of storms or earthquakes is an important consideration in the design and installation of offshore structures (breakwaters, gravity or pile-supported platforms, pipelines, anchors, etc.), since it may cause severe damage to these structures affecting their operations (Oumeraci 1994; Palmer et al. 2004). Figure 1 illustrates possible failure modes of breakwaters and pipelines in relation to the instability of the seabed.