Damage to Armor Units: Model Technique

After a storm on December 31, 1979 and January 1, 1980, with a maximum $H_s$ of 23.3 ft (7.1 m) a large number of broken Dolosse of 15 metric tonnes (15,000 kg) was observed on the west breakwater of Gioia Tauro, Italy. The present paper describes a study in which the storm was reproduced in a model at a scale of 1 to 45.5 and with which a stable modified design was determined. A model technique using single frame film exposures was applied in order to detect rocking of Dolosse. The main conclusion is that the number of rocking plus the number of displaced Dolosse observed in the model corresponds well to the number of broken Dolosse in nature. This conclusion is only valid for the slope above still‐water level.