Pile hole drilling for North Sea platforms

Journal Article · Thu May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1975 · Pet. Eng.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6708578

Dressel, E J

According to J.R. McDermott and Co., deep waters and a sea bottom composed of both dense sands and hard clays call for utmost sophistication of equipment and techniques for offshore platform installation in the North Sea. The water depth requires modification of conventional platform installation procedures with an intermediate foundation and temporary pile installation module. Normally, piling is installed by driving to grade with conventional pile-driving equipment. For 2 different types of offshore platform foundations now being utilized in the North Sea, however, drilling is required. One, a belled footing, requires drilling because underreaming is a necessity. The second, a deep-water platform with skirt piles, utilizes drilling because pile/follower weights coupled with soil conditions make conventional pile driving inefficient or impossible. The total equipment package required depends on the platform installation procedures used. Available packages vary from a minimal pile-top rig to a platform-contained, barge-assisted pile installation unit.

• OSTI ID: 6708578
• Journal Information: Pet. Eng.; (United States), Journal Name: Pet. Eng.; (United States) Vol. 47; ISSN PENGA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020300* -- Petroleum-- Drilling & Production
03 NATURAL GAS
030300 -- Natural Gas-- Drilling
Production
& Processing
ATLANTIC OCEAN
DRILLING
FOUNDATIONS
INSTALLATION
MECHANICAL STRUCTURES
NORTH SEA
OFFSHORE PLATFORMS
SAND
SEA BED
SEAS
SOILS
SUPPORTS
SURFACE WATERS