Chapter Towards a Guide for Building Digital Twins of Port Infrastructure

Overview & Synopsis

Ports are critical infrastructure assets with a pivotal role in functional and spatial activities associated with maritime transportation. In an era of intense pressures on the digitalization of every part of the economy, building Digital Twins (DTs) of port systems has become increasingly important aiming at solving problems before they occur. Although port DTs are mostly used for logistics and operational purposes, DT technologies can also support lifetime performance management of port infrastructure by investigating the in-service structures’ behavior against potential degradation threats. To this end, the present work conceptualizes a guide for building DTs of port infrastructure based on Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) applications. The guide includes sensors mounted on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Geographic Information Systems tools, automation techniques, and structural condition assessments combined to assist in computer-aided twinning. To examine the effectiveness of the guide, a pilot DT was applied for the waterfront facilities of a Greek port, namely Lavrio port. The real-time replicas proved promising in searching for smart maintenance actions.