The severity of damages to riverine structures across German estuaries has increased in the past years due to the increase in the ship-induced loads. Here, the field data of a riverine rock-armored groyne tracked for a year is analyzed; the campaign began after the structure was rebuilt and finished when the structure presented severe damage. The ship-induced primary waves and water levels were recorded, and laser scans of the groyne armor were taken. Damage curves were derived and each increment of damage (ΔSe) was related to a ship-wave event and a passing ship. The most significant variables to describe ΔSe were the primary wave height, the partial blockage factor, the ship length and width and the relative velocity of the ship. The shape of the dependence between these variables is also analyzed, concluding that models more complex than the commonly used Gaussian copula might be needed.
