Many years ago ships moored just a convenient plot of bank. Today for full-scale servicing of ships, the whole complex of constructions and facilities is necessary. The main kinds of port installations: outer (breakwaters and moles) and inner (berths, piers, quays, ship repair and ship lifting constructions).

Berths can be marine as well as loading, passenger, ship-repair, and navy. Besides, they can be fixed berths or mooring floats.

Generally, a lot of factors are taken into account in design of port installations. In addition to general construction parameters (ground condition, its characteristics, possibility of laying of access roads), water composition, level of water, features of tide and streams are considered. Application of up-to-date survey instruments and more accurate analytical methods, improving of all stages of berth construction, replacement of capital dry docks with pre-fabricated hangars over boatslides are the directions of port installation development in the recent years.