Design and Installation of Suction Anchor Piles at Soft Clay Site
Publication: Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering
Volume 124, Issue 4
Abstract
Innovative suction anchor piles have been used for permanent mooring of a process and accommodation barge at an oil and gas field developed by ELF Congo in the Gulf of Guinea. Twelve mooring lines, equipped with steel suction anchor piles, were successfully preinstalled at the site in July–August 1995, and the process barge was connected in early 1996 for the start of production. With a water depth ranging between 150 and 300 m, the Nkossa field is among the deepest ones offshore Western Africa to date, and the soils at the site consist of soft normally consolidated clays, representative of deep water sites. The anchoring system design is presented together with a description of the suction pile installation operations. The monitored performance of the suction piles during installation is evaluated, including the orientation and tilt at touchdown and the penetration rate during suction penetration. The installation behavior appeared to be easy and smooth, and the measured penetration resistances were in perfect agreement with the predictions, thus demonstrating the reliability of the design installation method.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering
Volume 124 • Issue 4 • July 1998
Pages: 179 - 188
Copyright
Copyright © 1998 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Published online: Jul 1, 1998
Published in print: Jul 1998
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