METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR REINFORCING IN SITU IN PILE CASING

• US 3,597,930 A
• Filed: 04/04/1969
• Issued: 08/10/1971
• Est. Priority Date: 04/04/1969
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: William R. Rochelle, Wycoff Ronald Lee
• Original Assignee: William R. Rochelle, Wycoff Ronald Lee
• Inventors: Rochelle, William R., WYCOFF RONALD LEE
• Application Number:
  US04/813,479
• Time in Patent Office: 858 Days
• US Class Current: 405/211
• CPC Class Codes: E02B 17/00 Artificial islands mounted on piles or like supports, e.g. platforms on raisable legs or offshore constructions; Construction methods therefor construction methods for floating platforms B63B75/00; anchoring floating platforms B63B21/00; floating platforms, e.g. anchored, B63B35/44; underwater reservoirs B65D88/78
• CPC Class Codes: E02B 17/0017 Means for protecting offshore constructions
• CPC Class Codes: E02B 17/0034 Maintenance, repair or inspection of offshore constructions
• CPC Class Codes: E02D 5/40 in open water

Abstract

A method of reinforcing, in situ, a piling comprising the steps of: gaining access into the pile casing, cleaning mud and debris from the interior of the casing and simultaneously removing the debris, inserting stiffening or reinforcing material into the casing and sealing the pile casing access opening. The step of simultaneously cleaning and removing is essentially performed by a pile cleanout device comprising a fluid jetting portion operable to dislodge and fragment sediment and other debris within the jacket pile casing, and a gas lift portion integral therewith to remove the fragmented matter from the interior of the pile casing.

Claims

1. A method of rejuvenating and strengthening a pile casing supporting an offshore platform, the casing being at least partially filled with sediment or debris, the method comprising:

providing an access opening into a pile casing;

inserting a cleaning tool through said opening into the pile casing;

using the cleaning tool, cleaning the interior of the pile casing, by dislodging matter from the interior of the pile casing, by jetting a liquid against the matter while simultaneously pumping the matter up to and out of the opening, to thereby substantially remove the sediment or debris from the interior of the pile casing;

withdrawing said cleaning tool from the interior of the pile casing;

inserting a pump into the pile casing;

using the pump, pumping the pile casing substantially free of the liquid therein;

removing the pump from the pile casing; and

substantially filling the interior of the casing with a stiffening material to reinforce the jacket piling.

2. A method of rejuvenating and strengthening a jacket pile casing as defined in claim 1 and further comprising the step of:

inserting reinforcing elements into the interior of said casing prior to substantially filling the casings with stiffening material.

3. A method of rejuvenating and strengthening a jacket pile casing as defined in claim 1 wherein the matter is pumped up to and out of the casing by, forcing compressed air into a fluid exit column, to thereby lift the matter to the casing window by a gas lift.

4. A method of rejuvenating and strengthening a pile casing supporting an offshore platform, the casing being at least partially filled with sediment or debris, the method comprising:

providing an access opening into a pile casing;

inserting a cleaning tool through said opening into the pile casing;

using the cleaning tool, cleaning the interior of the pile casing, by jetting a fluid against the debris within the interior of the pile casing, thereby dislodging and fragmenting it, while simultaneously forcing super atmospheric gas into the interior of said cleaninG tool to reduce the specific gravity of the debris within the interior of the tool relative to the specific gravity of the fluid sediment and debris exterior of the tool whereby the fluid sediment and debris interiorly of the tool will be forced upwardly and expelled from the pile casing; and

substantially filling the interior of said casing with a cementitious material, thus reinforcing said pile casing.

5. A method of rejuvenating and strengthening a jacket pile casing as defined in claim 4 wherein said step of jetting comprises:

pumping a fluid under high pressure through nozzles at the end of the cleaning tool.

6. A method of rejuvenating and strengthening a jacket pile casing as defined in claim 4 and further comprising the step of:

pumping said jacket pile free of excess liquid and inserting reinforcing elements into the interior of the casing prior to filling the casing with cementitious material, and prestressing said cementitious material.

7. A method of rejuvenating and strengthening a pile casing extending from beneath a seabed to above sea level which supports an offshore platform thereupon, wherein said casing may be filled with water, sediment or other debris, comprising the steps of:

cutting a service window into a lateral portion of a pile casing;

inserting a swaging tool into said pile casing;

using the swaging tool, swaging pile casing guide means into conformity with the interior cylindrical surface of the pile casing;

removing the swaging tool from the pile casing;

lowering a cleaning tool into the pile casing;

using the cleaning tool, cleaning the interior of the pile casing, by jetting a fluid against debris within the interior of said pile casing, thereby dislodging and fragmenting it, while simultaneously gas lifting the fragmented debris out of the interior of the casing, to thereby substantially remove the debris from the pile casing;

withdrawing said cleaning tool from the interior of the pile casing;

inserting a pump into the pile casing;

using the pump, pumping the pile casing substantially free of liquid therein;

removing the pump from the pile casing;

inserting reinforcing elements into the interior of the pile casing;

substantially filling the interior of the pile casing with a cementitious material;

allowing the cementitious material is set and partially cure;

tensioning said reinforcing elements, to thereby place said partially cured cementitious material under compression;

allowing the cementitious material to fully cure under compression, thus reinforcing said pile casing with a prestressed column.

8. A method of rejuvenating and strengthening a jacket pile casing as defined in claim 7 wherein said step of gas lifting comprises:

forcing compressed air into a fluid exit column, to thereby lift said fragmented debris to the casing opening by the difference in specific gravity of fluids within the exit column and the pile casing.

9. A method of rejuvenating and strengthening a jacket pile casing as defined in claim 7 which further comprises the steps of:

isolating the reinforcing elements by, surrounding said elements with cylinders prior to inserting them into the interior of said casing, so that during the step of filling the interior of said casing with material the reinforcing elements will be isolated from said cementitious material; and

binding said tensioned reinforcing elements to the cylinders after the cementitious material has fully set by, inserting a binder between said reinforcing elements and said cylinders.