Offshore Construction

CE - 687
By Dr. Pooja Jain

Fixed Platform Types

Gravity platforms
Jack up rigs
Jacket platforms

GBS Gravity Based Structure

Most common concrete designs are:
Condeep (with one, two, three or four columns)
ANDOC (with four columns)
Sea Tank (with two or four columns)
C G Doris
Ove Arup
Condeep (Concrete deep water structure

ANDOC (Anglo Dutch offshore concrete)

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Gravity Platform
Designed for production
Salient features:
Large reinforced concrete bottom mounted structure
Uses its self weight to resist environmental loads
Not attached to the bottom with piles
Suitable upto medium depth around 350 m
These Concrete based gravity structure are constructed

with concrete as Base

Design of the base includes void spaces, also called
caissons . This provides natural buoyancy to the structure
and also enables to float to the field development location
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Description Contd.
These void spaces are flooded on the sea floor in their

location and topside modules are lifted into place

The void spaces are mainly used as storage
compartments for crude oil. Many a times it is also
filled up as permanent iron ore ballast.
Because of its weight, it obsoletes the requirement of
piles in the foundation
- hence called gravity based structure.

 Pros:
Support large deck loads
Possible reuse
Constructing and testing may be completed onshore
Support large field
Useful for long term production

Supports a large no of wells

Large storage capacity

More tolerant to overloading & sea water exposure than

steel jacket platforms

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 Cons
Cost increases exponentially with increase in WD
Foundation settlement
Subjected to seafloor scour
May require more reinforcing steel than that required
for a total steel jacket structure

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 Variety of designs Commonly adopted one is

discussed
The tower design consists of
Three basic components
Caisson or a cellular base
cellular concrete foundation (serves as oil storage
tanks)
Two or three or four hollow-concrete shaft or tower
extending above to support deck structure (steel)
Deck (steel)

Foundation (Caisson) bases are circular or square or

hexagonal or octagonal
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Brent Platform
Hibernia Platform

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Approximately 350
kilometres southeast of
Newfoundland & Labrador,
in the White Rose field.

Well head Platform

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First UK concrete gravity platform,

built in UK for he North Sea

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GBS failure examples

Water Depth: 82 m
24 cells with total base area 16000
m2 ,
Each cell 12 m diameter
Leak started under controlled
ballasting operation during
preperation for deck mating.
Whole stucture sinked due to leak
and hydrostatic pressure developed
Debris at 220 m depth
Sleipner A offshore platform Caused seismic event registering 3.0
on the Ritchter scale

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Steel Skirts
Improve foundation stability
Confine the soft soil layer on the top of seabed and help transfer the platform
loads to competent soils below
Acts as erosion resistant member
Provide stable seabed soil conditions and thus minimises scour ing
Assists in proper grouting of caisson base
Enable proper grouting of the bottom of gravity platform, with weal cement
grout, to provide proper distribution of the bearing stress at the bottom
Provides transverse resistance to the platform against sliding
Dowels are also provided along with steel skirts
Help to prevent damage to steel skirts during touch down by properly anchoring
the caisson
Dowels extend below about 4 m below the level of steel skirts
Primary purpose of Dowels

Help position the platform during touchdown

Prevent lateral platform motion during penetration of the foundation skirts
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Advantages of Gravity over Jacket

platform
Greater safety for people on board and top side facilities
Towing to site with deck is possible
Minimizes installation time and cost

Low maintenance cost

Submerged concrete have lesser problems than steel structure
Adjustable crude oil capacity
Capacity to support larger deck areas

Risers are protected as they are placed inside the central shaft
Possible access to sea floor from the cell compartments in the

foundation
Healthy monitoring systems
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 Sliding
improper skirting
Sea floor scouring
Clay bottom
Bearing capacity
High collosial weight
Stress concentration
due to weight
Rocking
Differential
settlement
Liquefaction
Water entrapment
below larger area
Soil liquifracture

Geotechnical problems associated with GBS

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 Ardyne Concrete gravity

platform
Shell
Duration: 1974-1978
Location: Ardyne Point,
Scotland
Wt: 300000 t
100 m2 56 m high caisson
with storage capacity of 1
million barrel
Four 116m high tower
Largest oil production
paltform at the time of
construction
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Construction was undertaken in a dry basin

before the platforms were floated out for
completion offshore

Once complete, the structures were towed

into position by ocean going tugs

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Jack up platforms (Rigs)

(fixed type platform)
A jack-up drilling rig is an offshore drilling structure with tubular or derrick legs
that support the deck and hull. When positioned over the drilling site, the
bottoms of the legs rest on the sea floor.
A jack-up rig is towed or propelled to a location with its legs up. Once the legs
are firmly positioned on the bottom, the deck and hull height are adjusted and
leveled.

For Exploratory drilling

Similar to Barge with movable legs

Rig is towed to site & legs are jacked down (JACK),

gripped into the sea floor and raise the platform(UP)

Suitable for shallow water 90 140 m WD

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 Pros:
Mobile
Stable when elevated
Low cost and efficient
Cons:
Depends on weather for erection stage & operation

Wave ht 24 m
Wind speed 100 Knots (1 Knot = 1.852 km/hr)

Restricted WD max 150 170 m

Prone to seafloor scour
blowout during operation may collapse the platform due to

liquefication under the legs of platform

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01. Derrick Load-bearing tower like framework over an oil/gas

well which holds the hoisting and lowering equipment
02. Drawworks Hoisting mechanism on a drilling rig which
spools off or takes in the drilling line and thus raises or lowers the
drill string and bit.
03. Drill Floor Foundation on which the derrick and engines sit.
Contains space for storage and well control equipment.
04. Drillpipe Steel pipe, in approximately 30-foot (9-meter)
lengths, screwed together to form a continuous pipe extending
from the drilling rig to the drilling bit at the bottom of the hole.
Rotation of the drill pipe and bit causes the bit to bore through
the rock.
05. Drill String String of individual joints of pipe that extends
from the bit to the kelly and carries the mud down to, and rotates,
the bit.
06. Cantilever The platform carrying the drill floor and derrick.
Skids in and out of rig.
07. Legs The 3 legs of a jack-up rig are lattice structures made
from vertical, horizontal and diagonal tubes. They can move up
and down using jacking motors/gears.
08. Living Quarters Where the crew lives. Up to 120 men
onboard.
09. Helipad For reception of helicopters delivering supplies and
change of crew.
10. Hull Main structure of the rig. Triangular rigid and watertight.
11. Spud Can Circular shoes of the legs. Designed to penetrate
deep into the seabed for good foothold.

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Main components
Hull
Legs & footings
Equipment
Marine equipment
Mission equipment
Elevating equipment

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Schematic presentation of Jackup rig tow, installation and commissioning31

Footing Geometry
Spudcan
Typically Jackup rigs 3 legs
Each leg has shallow conical
underside footing called
spudcan
Depth of penetration to soil
~12m
High pull out force is req for
extraction of the same.

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Operational depth

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Saudi rig collapse

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Competition
RIG is largest offshore drilling contractor
Size and expertise allows company to charge higher

rates than competitors

Average
Dayrate

Average
Utilization
Rate

Company

# of Rigs

Revenue
($B)

Transocean

138

9.1

$283,000

70%

Diamond
Offshore

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3.3

$260,000

67%

Noble
Corporation

61

2.8

$156,000

79%

ENSCO

72

2.0

$133,000

69%

Jacket platforms
(fixed type)
Steel Platforms
Super structures
Substructures
Topsides itself can weigh up to

40,000 ton
Designed for production
Steel framed tubular structure
attached to seabed with piles
which are driven into the sea
floor
Constructed in sections and
transported to the site
Design life : 10 25 years

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Topsides
Supported on a deck fixed on jacket structure
Consists of various modules
Drilling
Production
Gas turbine
Generating sets
Pumps
Compressors
Gas flare stack
Revolving cranes
Survival craft
Helicopter pad
Living quarters with
Hotel & catering facilities
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Pile simulation for jacket platform

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Details
Suitable for WD 150 250 m
Depends on weather window
Ex: North sea it is about 200 m WD & Gulf of Mexico about
300 m WD
The jacket supports the piles and holds the pile extension

in position from mudline to the deck structure

It supports & protects the well conductors, pumps, sumps,
risers So called Jacket
Jacket legs serve as guides for the driving of piles &
therefore it is called a template template structure
Soil conditions- Clay which is penetrable
Necessary for driving piles

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 The steel jacket type platform on a pile foundation

common offshore structure existing worldwide

The substructure or jacket is fabricated from steel
welded pipes and is pinned to the sea floor with steel
piles
Piles are driven through pile-guides on the outer

members of the jacket

Piles are thick pipes of 1 2m diameter and can

penetrate as much as 100 m into the sea bed

Common maintenance practice to ensure good service
life is by cathodic protection to prevent corrosion
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Components of Jacket Platform

Helideck
Raised level on a platform to facilitate helicopter landings
Solar panels are mounted just below the helideck to facilitate
auxiliary power
Vent/ flare boom
Long truss that supports a vent or flare line
Topsides (Deck structure)
The upper part of the platform (generally above the reach of
highest wave height) that houses most of the equipment
Top side equipment related to process, mehanical, electrical,
piping and instrumentation
Also houses accomodation and housing like workshop,
battery room etc.
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 Jacket structure
Part of the platform that supports the topsides and is
generally submerged below the water line
A jacket is the supporting frame of the platform
Its design is mainly governed by the wave loads
Crane pedestal
A large structural tube that supports an offshore crane
for lifting purposes
Crane pedestals also function as diesel storage tanks
since their diameter is large enough to house fuel
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Piles, Skirt piles

Piles are major structural members that are given through

hollow leg tubes to embed below sea bed to support the

platform in its worst in-service conditions
The pile embodiment is generally governed by the capacity
of soil to withstand platform loads and forces of
environment (wave & wind) that act upon the platform
Pile also connects the jacket structure to the topsides
Skirt piles are required when the soil is weak and the
existing no of piles formed by the geometry of the platform
is not adequate
Skirt piles are run close to the main pile/leg as a cluster of 2
or more.
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 Transition piece
Structural member which is in the form of a cone that links
the topsides and jacket structure
Cone shaped design is preferable as leg size of top sides are
smaller in diameter compared to that of jacket legs
Conductors
Long hollow straight or curved tubes that embed into the seabed through which drilling is performed
To support such long length of tube, conductor framings are
provided to act as lateral support guides to conductors
Risers
Long slender tubes that carry the crude or partially processed
oil/gas to another location for further processing
Risers are generally clamped to the jacket structure
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 Boat landing, Barge bumpers and riser guards

These components of the platform are req for berthing
of supply vessels
To facilitate a smooth berthing, barge bumpers are
mounted on each side of the boat landing to facilitate a
reduced vessel impact on the structure
A riser guard is another protective structure that
protects the oil/gas carrying risers
They are designed for accidental vessel impacts

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 Launch truss
Sometimes, the jacket structures are very large and cannot be lifted
even with large cranes
Permanent structures like launch trusses are provided on one side
of the jacket to facilitate the loading out on to the barge
If the jacket is designed for buoyancy, the jacket is launched in the
sea after reaching its destined position for a natural append and
leveling
When the jacket is launched, it floats due to its buoyancy. The
jacket legs are the sequentially flooded to make it upright and stand
over the sea-bed before the piles are driven through legs to fix it to
the sea-bed
The launch truss helps in skidding the jacket from the barge to the
sea

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 Mudmat
Mudmat is the bottom-most framing of the paltform
that helps in stability against lateral forces before piles
are driven through the legs
It is similar to a large raft made up of timber
It helps the platform to sink deeper if the soil is too soft
near the top layer of sea bed
Provides adequate resistance to overturning

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Platform (summarized in simple steps)

Build a jacket
Long steel tubes are welded together at a fabrication site to make a frame (the
jacket). This jacket framework provides the stability to support the topsides.
Once complete, the jacket is maneuvered onto a barge and towed out to the
field.
Float and secure jacket
The jacket is pushed off the barge, positioned on the seabed, and fastened in
place using long metal piles.
Build Topside
The topsides structure is constructed at the fabrication site one deck at a time,
incorporating the preordered equipment from specialist suppliers.
Complete Topside
Construction of the multi-decked topsides is completed, connecting all the
pipework and equipment, including power generation, the control systems,
drilling rig, accommodation block and helipad. The topsides structure is jacked
up and prepared for load-out onto a barge.
Transport Topside
Attach Topside to jacket
The topsides structure is floated over the jacket and lowered into place,
followed by commissioning and start-up.
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Tallest offshore piled structure, GoM

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 Pros:
Support large deck loads
May be constructed in sections and transported
Support large field, long term production (supports
large no of wells)
Piles result in good stability
Little effect from seafloor scour
Cons:
Costs increase exponentially with depth
High initial and maintenance costs
Not usable
Steel structure members subject to corrosion
Corrosion protection measures to be adopted
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Jacket Fabrication

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Jacket Transport

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Jacket Installation

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Jacket Upending

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Main Pile installation

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Internal lifting tool

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Pile welding

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Decks

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Decks

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Building module being towed

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Platform completed

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Jacket/Concrete Platforms
For a Piled Platform:
The horizontal stability is more fully understood and this
allows more economy in the design.
The final selection of the platform location is less critical
because pile design need not be oversensitive to changes in
soil conditions and because pile make-up may be modified at
a very late stage.
The combined costs of materials and fabrication are in
general lower.
The site soil investigations can be less extensive and the costs
lower, provided a decision to select a piled structure can be
made sufficiently early and before much information about
the reservoir is available.
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Jacket/Concrete Platforms
The attachment of pipeline risers to a steel jacket is

relatively simple and additional risers can be installed

after placement of the structure offshore.
At abandonment a considerable amount work has to be
carried out to clear the area of all debris. This would add
cost at the end of the life of the platform.
A deep-water construction site is not required.

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Jacket/Concrete Platforms
For a Gravity Platform:
The installation time for the platform is short, thereby
reducing costly offshore operations and their exposure
to weather risks;
The potential exists, although historically it has not
been used very successfully, for transport of all the deck
and facilities to the offshore location after installation
inshore, thus avoiding costly offshore placement;
The platform has capacity for oil storage;
A larger deck can be provided;
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Jacket/Concrete Platforms
Retrofitting later addition of riser and other such

alterations will be difficult;

Construction relies on labour with a higher unskilled
component. Work forces of this type are more readily
available. On the other hand, the construction sites for
gravity structures require deep-water close inshore and
it can be expected that the selected site may be remote
from traditional construction and industrial areas.
Theoretically it is possible to de-ballast and float the
structure away at the end of its life. This would reduce
the cost of abandonment. This theory has still to be put
to test.
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