The elliptic pier-type wharf is a relatively new type of wharf structure.At present，the relevant standards of water transportation engineering are not fully applicable to the wave force calculation of large elliptic pier-type wharfs.Based on the calculation theory of wave force on pier and pile in the water transportation engineering code，a comparative study is carried out with engineering cases and test data.The results show that：1) For large-scale elliptic pier，the measured values of small-scale pile transverse wave force are less than the calculated values，and the measured values of large-scale pier longitudinal wave force are greater than the calculated values.2) For small-scale piles，the difference of wave forces between the side pier and the middle pier cannot be reflected by the calculation method of water transport code，and the measured value of the lateral wave forces of the side pier is slightly smaller than that of the middle pier.For large-scale piers，the difference of longitudinal wave forces between side pier and middle pier cannot be fully reflected in the calculation of code.3) For important engineering，it is suggested that the wave force should be determined by the results of physical model test.