Mudmat design
US4720214A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 21, 1986 |
| Grant date | Jan 19, 1988 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 21, 2006 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC E)Fixed Constructions
- CPC primaryE02D27/52
- WIPO fieldCivil engineering
- WIPO sectorOther fields
Abstract
A method and apparatus for positioning an offshore well substructure on the ocean floor. A substructure having a heigth of 1350 feet and base of 400 feet by 480 feet is subject to significant lateral forces caused by wind, wave, and current forces between the time period of lowering it to the ocean floor and driving piles through its skirt sleeves and into the ocean floor. Mudmats carried by the bottom corners of the substructure have downwardly-extending peripheral walls which penetrate the ocean floor so as to resist any lateral force to which the substructure is subjected. The base of a mudmat is approximately 10,000 square feet and the walls are approximately five feet high. A manifold system carried by each mudmat provides the capability of adjusting the level of the substructure after it has been lowered onto the ocean floor.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.