Subsea Rock Installation and Rock Placement: A Guide for Offshore Operators

Based upon the author's wide experience in a broad range of projects, this invaluable book sets the scene and places rock installation in the context of the offshore industry today. This is an industry where health, safety and environmental considerations are factored in to a project with the same level of professionalism as regulatory compliance and good design. Full information is provided about planning, preparation, execution and reporting of a rock installation project. Brief but key information is provided about rock types, the nature of the seabed and the relationship between the quarry and the receiving vessel, which together form a system of turning a terrestrial geological formation into a rock berm offshore. Rock installation vessels, their characteristics, equipment and capabilities are examined in outline. This book is based upon personal experience offshore in a series of rock installation projects over the last 16 years. It covers the oil and gas sector, coastal engineering, power and telecom cable projects and draws on practice in the UK, Norwegian and Danish Exclusive Economic Zones where much rock installation takes place. The range in scale is significant, from large oil field development projects to those of a much more specialised nature such as the preparation of sites from which a jackup rig can safely operate. The marine environment is examined in some detail. The author believes that all personnel working in the offshore industry, whether at sea or in onshore positions, need to understand the harsh but majestic, hostile and often unforgiving marine environment. With a number of new operators developing both end of life and new fields, knowledge concerning SRI has been diluted or even lost. This book is a useful enabler for project staff and new client representatives offshore to have a productive rock installation experience from the initial discussions with a contractor to the final results and verification.