Evolution of Techniques in Rehabilitation and Maintenance of Marine Structures: A State-of-art Review

The durability, safety, and operational viability of diverse structures in maritime environments depend on the critical activities of marine structure restoration and upkeep. This paper presents an advanced overview of a vast family of structures in various branches of dynamics, such as jetties, ports, harbors, offshore platforms, and coastal fortifications, which may be considered as a shield for many purposes. While there are strategies to overcome structural degradation and long-term performance, there are no particular tools to check, repair and protect all structures functioning in a marine environment, especially those open to various kinds of stress due to evolving problems such as corrosion, wave action and biofouling. The process of rehabilitation of marine structures achieved by restoring the structural integrity and operating effectiveness of a marine structure or system consists of a series of operations that improve, maintain, repair, and replace existing structures to extend their life span, meeting the requirements of new regulations and directives. The report ends with a brief description of some of the more sophisticated monitoring techniques that are found to be more useful in monitoring the health and performance of offshore infrastructure, such as remote sensing technologies, and underwater inspections. Some recommendations are made for some topics that could be considered in future research for maintenance and rehabilitation of offshore structures.