FoundOcean has completed the installation and grouting for a clamp repair to an 18” pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico. Saipem America awarded FoundOcean the contract to repair the damage caused by a vessel’s anchor being dragged along the seabed over the pipeline in bad weather, at a water depth of 750 meters.
The seabed was dredged around the damaged area of the pipeline. An ROV manoeuvred the two steel half-shells of the clamp into position and pre-tightened the bolts. FoundOcean then connected the hose to the inlet valve on the clamp and delivered the grout using its reliable and cost-effective deepwater grouting umbilical system. Due to the extra load, a fabric formwork was installed under the clamp to provide more support.
In total 28 tonnes of cement was used: four tonnes for the clamp and 24 tonnes for the fabric formwork.
John Hudson , Client Services Director for FoundOcean recalls, “FoundOcean has proven experience of repairing pipelines all over the world, and at great depths. In 2007 we undertook a similar project in the North Sea where getting the Central Area Transmission System (CATS) pipeline back up and running was critical to the UK’s gas supply.”
[mappress] Press Release, February 25, 2013