The hydrodynamics of the flow around piers affects the motion of ships navigating near these structures, while the motion of the ships, in turn, affects the distribution of the flow field near the piers. This study investigates the forces exerted on a ship in various ship–pier transverse distances using commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software, Fluent 13.0, based on the RNG k-ε model, complemented by experiments with a physical model. The interaction between the ship’s motion and the flow field near the piers was considered. The results indicate that during the encounter between the ship and the pier, the boundary of the approaching ship affects the flow field near the pier, thereby affecting the generation and detachment of vortices behind the pier. The yaw moment of the ship demonstrates a marked “positive peak–negative peak–positive peak” pattern. Moreover, as the ship–pier transverse distance increases, the impact of the pier on the ship’s motion decreases, and it becomes negligible when the distance reaches 0.9 times the diameter of the pier (D), suggesting that the pier has a minimal impact on ship navigation if the ship–pier transverse distance exceeds this threshold.

Ships sailing in the area of a bridge are vulnerable to the influence of complex water flow, due to the complex flow pattern around the bridge pier. Ships often crash into bridge piers, leading to serious economic losses and threating personal safety. Based on the common forms of piers of skew bridges, the hydrodynamic problems encountered during ship–bridge interactions in the area of a skew bridge were studied using particle image velocimetry-based flume testing, physical model testing, and numerical simulation. The influence of the flow angle of attack of a round-ended pier on the force and center of gravity of a ship moving on both sides of a pier is discussed under various ship–bridge transverse spacings. The results show that as a ship passes through the bridge area, the bow roll moment exhibits three peak values: ‘positive’, ‘negative’, and ‘positive’, and the curve of the center of gravity position forms the shape of a ‘straw hat’. With an increase in the flow angle of attack of the pier, the negative peak value and the second positive peak value of the bow roll moment of the ship passing through the back flow side of the pier become greater than those on the upstream side. Moreover, the ship’s navigation attitude is more unstable compared to that upstream, and the ship is at risk of colliding with the pier and sweeping. The width of the restricted water area, determined by the hydrodynamic action between the ship and bridge in the skew bridge area, is the same as that determined by the critical lateral velocity. For the ship class referred to in this study, the current code can also be used in channel design, to safeguard ship and personal safety with piers with a large flow angle of attack.

The characteristics of the slip surface of the soil are highly important for the calculation of earth pressure. In order to study the characteristics of the limited width soil active slip surface behind the rigid wall, laboratory model tests were carried out using non-cohesive sand, the images of soil during the test were collected and analyzed by digital image correlation method, the shear strain and displacement of soil are obtained, and the translation (T-mode) and rotation around the bottom of the wall are analyzed. The research results show that the critical aspect ratio of active soil with limited width is similar in T mode and RB mode, while in RT mode, the critical aspect ratio is relatively small; the active sliding surface of the soil with limited width in T mode presents the characteristic of "multi-refraction lines". According to the similarity of the sliding angle, it can be divided into the slip surface developed from the mobile retaining wall and the fixed retaining wall, the starting point of the active slip surface of limited-width soil in RB mode is the upper part of the wall heel, and the starting point of the RT mode is the wall heel, both of which extend to the middle of the fixed retaining wall. Obvious soil arch characteristics can be observed in the horizontal and vertical displacement of soil with limited width in T mode and RT mode, and the edge of soil arch is the sliding surface.

Partnering pattern is one of advanced international management patterns of project, it doesn't observe and solve the question from the opposite angle but it emphasizes understanding, cooperation and trust. Based on introducing the concept and the core idea of the partnering pattern and according to the contradictory relations of different parties in project, such as which between main bodies of tendering, which among construction units, which between supplier and contractor etc., the paper explores how to build harmonious relationships on actual condition of partnering pattern to meet the application and development in China. It is advised that choosing a partnering facilitator with high qualification, choosing effective partners in partnering pattern, the partnering pattern is turned from specific one to long-term one and so on.