Integrated Research into the Foundation Behaviour of Offshore Energy Production Platforms

Abstract

This paper revisits research undertaken by the Authors with Professor J B Burland in which key contributions were made to the pioneering Magnus Foundation Monitoring Project (FMP), Hutton Tension Leg Platform (TLP) and Gullfaks-C platform oil production platform projects in the North Sea. Close liaison with industry and an integrated approach that combined high quality laboratory and in-situ testing with cutting-edge numerical analysis and accurate observations of full-scale field behaviour were central to the improvements achieved in analysing the foundations of these and similar structures. The paper asserts the central importance of understanding regional geology before reviewing how teams led by John Burland developed new laboratory and field monitoring instruments, as well as experimental and numerical approaches that have had a lasting impact in many areas of geotechnical engineering. Recent developments that sprang from the projects and the associated research programmes are highlighted. Particular attention is given to subsequent improvements to pile design methods whose development started with the first two cited case histories, as these and later developments are now contributing to a worldwide shift towards renewable, low-carbon, wind-energy production.