Construction of Large Concrete Ocean Structures

Many large-scale projects for floating and submerged structures in the ocean are based on the use of concrete as the primary structural material. Concrete is, indeed, the ideal material for such applications because of its durability, rigidity, economy, favorable mode of failure, freedom from vibration and condensation, insulating quality, behavior at low temperature and mass. The economical and expeditious construction of such structures depends on the adoption of imaginative construction procedures appropriate to the scale and demands of the work, yet capable of insuring the absolute integrity of the completed structure. The transport and installation of such structures in the ocean likewise require the adoption of the latest techniques from offshore drilling and marine construction, transformed into new dimensions in order to insure control. The material presented herein also suggests procedures for the more practicable construction of large-scale ocean structures in concrete.