News
August 19, 2009
Geotechnical conditions and ice loading for an offshore drilling platform in the Canadian Beaufort Sea
Abstract
The SDC mobile arctic drilling platform was deployed 50 km offshore in a water depth of 14 m at the Paktoa site in the Canadian Beaufort Sea over the winter of 2005-2006. Geotechnical investigations were done from the landfast ice prior to deployment and from the SDC deck. An ice loading event in February 2006 resulted in measurable displacements in the in-place inclinometer string below the SDC. Several analysis methods were used to estimate the magnitude of the ice load during this event, to provide a better understanding of the magnitude of ice loading for future arctic deployments of gravity based drilling platforms.
Scott Martens, Arash Eshraghian & Brian Rogers
Klohn Crippen Berger Ltd., Calgary, Alberta, Canada