ANALYTICAL PREDICTIONS AND FIELD OBSERVATIONS OF THE LOADOUT OPERATIONS OF THE KILAUEA JACKET

The Kilauea jacket was loaded out on the launch barge Intermac 650 by conventional skidding. The 8,100t, 645ft long, relatively rigid stiffness characteristics of the jacket, required that the deflection of the barge and the jacket during loadout be controlled accurately. Crane assist during loadout be controlled accurately. Crane assist during loadout was used to reduce the jacket's stresses and joint can thicknesses. A stepped ballasting procedure was developed which resulted in an 'almost level loadout'. This ensured that jacket deflections remain within allowable deflection envelopes. A computer assisted survey system was used during loadout to compare measured barge/jacket deflections to predictions. The loadout analysis and results, a description of the survey system, a narrative of the actual loadout operation and a comparison of the observed barge/jacket behaviour with the predicted behaviour are presented.