CORE-LOCTM Concrete Armoring
Technology
CORE-LOC is an innovative coastal protection armor unit designed to withstand the
harshest of wave climates. Its unique design as a strong interlocking unit eliminates a
slender central section, the weak point in many other concrete armor units which have had
a tendency to break at that point. In contrast, CORE-LOC's strength is in the center of the
unit. Its superior hydraulic stability is attributed to the extraordinary interlocking of its
symmetrically tapered octagonal members.
This product is the result of years of concrete
armor research at the U.S. Army Engineer
Research and Development Center (ERDC).
The need for reliable navigation and shore
Problem
protection structures to withstand high wave
energy has been a timeless worldwide
concern. Research efforts at ERDC's
Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory (CHL)
date back to the 1950s. Dramatic
improvements occurred through the years.
Dolos, which had previously been the most
popular armor unit used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, had some inherent design
flaws, especially a tendency to break in the center. This brought about a need to both
repair dolos slopes and to find a design for a stand-alone armor unit to be used on
breakwaters.
Costs vary throughout the world due to the fluctuating prices within the global market for
Expected Cost
supplies and labor.
To Implement
Benefits/Savings
CORE-LOC has become the concrete unit of choice for both new construction and repair
of existing concrete-armored slopes because of its extraordinary efficiency. Advantages
are that it dissipates the maximum amount of wave energy with the least amount of con-
crete, requiring significantly less materials; its layer has a reserve stability which will
continue to function if the design event is exceeded which is not the case with more
slender units such as the dolos or the tribar; it can also be placed in a single layer, unlike
most other types of concrete armor units which are placed in two layers. Keeping in mind
that the cost of an armor layer is proportional to the total volume of concrete on the slope,
CORE-LOC has one of the lowest packing densities in the industry, which brings about
significant reduction in on-slope concrete volume. Together these factors account for an
economic advantage of approximately 50 percent cost-savings over the costs associated
with other concrete armor units.
Status
CORE-LOC armor layers have been designed for over 75 structures and 20 have been
constructed so far. At the first CORE-LOC project in Port St. Francis, South Africa,
800 15-ton CORE-LOC units have provided exceptional protection for a breakwater and
peninsula for 5 years. This site endured three design level storms during breakwater
construction. Patents and trademarks for CORE-LOC have been filed in more than
U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center
June 2002
www.erdc.usace.army.mil
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