THE BEATEN PATH ISN’T ALWAYS THE FASTEST.
CHEVRON DRILLING MODULETEXAS, USA
29 APRIL2014
APRIL2014
REBUILDING THE DM INTOONE PIECE
ON ITS WAY TO INGLESIDE
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WINNING 60 DAYS WITH PARALLEL CONSTRUCTION AND WELL-PREPARED TRANSPORT.
21 APRIL2014
PREPARING BARGE RAMP FOR LOAD-OUT
21 APRIL2014
CUSTOM MADE RAMP FOR LOAD-OUT
A Z
When Nabors was building a
drilling module (DM) for its client
Chevron, Mammoet was asked to
transport over 120 components
from one construction yard
to another for further assembly.
Mammoet took on the challenge
but proposed a much faster
approach. Instead of shipping the
DM as individual elements,
Mammoet suggested assembling,
transporting and lifting
the 2,268-ton module onto the
platform in one piece. This allowed
construction on another part of
the platform to continue while the
DM was built. Mammoet’s plan
saved 30 days of rebuilding and
another 30 days of hook-up time.
Nabors chose its original approach of
transporting the DM in individual
pieces, because it was under the
impression it simply could not
be shipped in one go. First, the road
from the fabrication yard to the
load-out area was too narrow to carry
the module. Secondly, there was a
height difference between the barge
and the load-out quay, which was
supposedly too steep to load-out the
tall DM. Finally, the customer
assumed the shallow waters of the
shipping route would not be able to
handle a barge with the weight of the
full DM either. But transport aside,
the DM wasn’t designed to be lifted
in one piece to begin with.
After close examination, Mammoet
came with an approach that took
away all bottlenecks. We began by
building a special support frame to
allow the DM to be lifted onto the
offshore platform. In order to
overcome the issue of the narrow
road, Mammoet proposed to move
the separate DM components to an
alternative yard near the load-out
area and assemble it there. From
there, it was possible to transport the
DM in its entirety to its final
destination. A custom ramp offset the
height difference between the barge
and the quay at the load-out location.
Mammoet successfully loaded the DM
onto a barge with enough draught to
make it through the shallow waters.
To make sure the shipping route
could in fact handle the barge with
the weight of the complete DM,
a sonar survey was conducted and a
dive team was employed to
double-check the water depth.
Mammoet’s alternative solution
proved highly advantageous for
Nabors and Chevron. By allowing
construction on the ETLP to continue
while the DM was built in another
construction yard, Mammoet helped
Nabors deliver the DM 60 days
ahead of schedule.
RESOURCES
CRANES 2 crawler cranes
TRANSPORT108 axle lines of SPMTprime movers and trailers
MARITIME EQUIPMENT1 barge3 tugs
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT custom made support frame
CREW 40 Mammoet professionals