CA2075006C - Pipeline ballasting device - Google Patents
Pipeline ballasting device Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- CA2075006C CA2075006C CA 2075006 CA2075006A CA2075006C CA 2075006 C CA2075006 C CA 2075006C CA 2075006 CA2075006 CA 2075006 CA 2075006 A CA2075006 A CA 2075006A CA 2075006 C CA2075006 C CA 2075006C
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- Prior art keywords
- bags
- recited
- weighting device
- straps
- pipeline
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Classifications
-
- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F16—ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
- F16L—PIPES; JOINTS OR FITTINGS FOR PIPES; SUPPORTS FOR PIPES, CABLES OR PROTECTIVE TUBING; MEANS FOR THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
- F16L1/00—Laying or reclaiming pipes; Repairing or joining pipes on or under water
- F16L1/024—Laying or reclaiming pipes on land, e.g. above the ground
- F16L1/06—Accessories therefor, e.g. anchors
-
- E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
- E02—HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING; FOUNDATIONS; SOIL SHIFTING
- E02D—FOUNDATIONS; EXCAVATIONS; EMBANKMENTS; UNDERGROUND OR UNDERWATER STRUCTURES
- E02D27/00—Foundations as substructures
- E02D27/32—Foundations for special purposes
- E02D27/46—Foundations for supply conduits or other canals
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- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
- General Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
- Mining & Mineral Resources (AREA)
- Paleontology (AREA)
- Civil Engineering (AREA)
- Structural Engineering (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- Laying Of Electric Cables Or Lines Outside (AREA)
- Tires In General (AREA)
- Rigid Pipes And Flexible Pipes (AREA)
Abstract
A conduit weighting device comprising containment device adapted to supportingly receive a superposed charge of ballast material, in contained relation within an at least one enclosure circumscribed on all sides by upwardly extending containment device walls adapted to retainingly confine the charge between the walls. The device is adapted to be positioned in straddling, superposed relation aver a conduit, to thereby at least partly counter displacement forces effecting the conduit means.
Description
2d'~~ODC
FIELD OF T~iE INVENTION:
The present invention relates to a pipeline weighting device.
More particularly, the present invention relates to a device for countering post-installation buoyant displacement forces that may undesirably effect a pipeline emplacement, particularly in subterranean emplacements.
BACKi~ROUND OF TI3E INVENTION:
Pipeline emplacements are often subject to various forces, such as hydrodynamic and hydrostatic forces, for example, which can manifest in the displacement of the pipeline from its originally installed position. consequential pipeline rupture can have adverse environmental and financial repercussions.
Responsible pipeline companies and contractors are committed to installations whose designs provide for a high margin of design tolerance over and above any purely structural requirement for pipeline weighting. This abundance of caution is intended to offset the catastrophic potential attached to taking unwarranted risks that might lead to displacement and consequential pipeline damage, including service interruption, and environmental damage.
To that end, the traditional, and still predominating practice in the industry, entails weighting the pipeline with massive concrete weights. Earlier designs include clamp-on-weights of various descriptions, as well as the more typical large pre-cast concrete arch structures that are arranged in bridging relation over top of the pipeline. These latter mentioned designs are currently the most widely-used. At the same time, they are expensive to fabricate, 2~'~~~~~
transport, entail labour intensive installation practices, and generally require increased trench depth and width dimensions in order that their installation can be properly accommodated. Current thinking in the relevant art is that even though these weights are very expensive, the protection they afford in terms of securely anchoring a pipeline more than offsets their associated materials and installation costs, once consideration is given to the repair and clean-up costs that could ensue in the event of any breech, or rupture, such as might otherwise be attributable to shifting of an unweighi:ed, or improperly weighted pipeline emplacement.
Although such weights might be used in any number of situations, they appear most commonly in in-ground installations. In subterranean pipeline emplacements, the problem of pipeline leakage is, (from the point of view of precisely locating the problem, rapidly containing spillage and repairing any damage), most acute. Underground emplacements are also susceptible to hydrostatic forces, which can cause the pipeline to be displaced from the position it occupied when originally installed, possibly leading to such a rupture or breech.
With this in mind, it will be readily appreciated that subterranean emplacements are quantitatively demanding, if not qualitatively exceptional from the point of view of pipeline weighting in such emplacements.
dne proposed alternative for dealing with the problem of maintaining the positioning of a pipeline within a subterranean emplacement is disclosed in US patent 3,170,663 - Fite. This patent discloses an anchoring device for a pipeline, which incorporates an arcuate collar that is secured in straddling relation about the upper 2~'~ ~00~
exterior surface of the pipeline. The collar is held in tensioned relation against that surface by a laterally spaced apart pair of anchoring rods having spiral flights thereon that extend beyond the under surface of the pipeline are adapted to positively engage the underlying soil substrate on either side thereof.
Another proposal entails the use, in muskeg environments, of simple two-dimensional sheets of a fabric that are intended to be deployed in a pipeline trench, overlaying the installed pipeline.
Backfill is then layered over the fabric in the hope that the collected "unit weight" of the resulting overburden will be sufficient to counter any buoyant forces that local ground water might exert on the pipeline. Resort to this approach has been entertained only when alternatives are simply not available, (ie in remote muskeg areas).
Moreover, there is a risk that ground water flows will displace some of the "unit weight" of the "disturbed" backfill from above the pipeline. This would be a particular problem in areas where ground surface contours or the grading of the emplacement or a non-level transit of the pipeline, might result in either or both surface and ground water flows that could be channelled within the fabric, almost in the manner of an artificial canal.
There remains a need in the art to reconcile the necessity of anchoring pipelines for the purpose of avoiding or reducing the impact of some of the problems set out above, with the apparently antithetical desire for any reduction in the high costs heretofore associated with the practices that the industry has been willing to embrace.
FIELD OF T~iE INVENTION:
The present invention relates to a pipeline weighting device.
More particularly, the present invention relates to a device for countering post-installation buoyant displacement forces that may undesirably effect a pipeline emplacement, particularly in subterranean emplacements.
BACKi~ROUND OF TI3E INVENTION:
Pipeline emplacements are often subject to various forces, such as hydrodynamic and hydrostatic forces, for example, which can manifest in the displacement of the pipeline from its originally installed position. consequential pipeline rupture can have adverse environmental and financial repercussions.
Responsible pipeline companies and contractors are committed to installations whose designs provide for a high margin of design tolerance over and above any purely structural requirement for pipeline weighting. This abundance of caution is intended to offset the catastrophic potential attached to taking unwarranted risks that might lead to displacement and consequential pipeline damage, including service interruption, and environmental damage.
To that end, the traditional, and still predominating practice in the industry, entails weighting the pipeline with massive concrete weights. Earlier designs include clamp-on-weights of various descriptions, as well as the more typical large pre-cast concrete arch structures that are arranged in bridging relation over top of the pipeline. These latter mentioned designs are currently the most widely-used. At the same time, they are expensive to fabricate, 2~'~~~~~
transport, entail labour intensive installation practices, and generally require increased trench depth and width dimensions in order that their installation can be properly accommodated. Current thinking in the relevant art is that even though these weights are very expensive, the protection they afford in terms of securely anchoring a pipeline more than offsets their associated materials and installation costs, once consideration is given to the repair and clean-up costs that could ensue in the event of any breech, or rupture, such as might otherwise be attributable to shifting of an unweighi:ed, or improperly weighted pipeline emplacement.
Although such weights might be used in any number of situations, they appear most commonly in in-ground installations. In subterranean pipeline emplacements, the problem of pipeline leakage is, (from the point of view of precisely locating the problem, rapidly containing spillage and repairing any damage), most acute. Underground emplacements are also susceptible to hydrostatic forces, which can cause the pipeline to be displaced from the position it occupied when originally installed, possibly leading to such a rupture or breech.
With this in mind, it will be readily appreciated that subterranean emplacements are quantitatively demanding, if not qualitatively exceptional from the point of view of pipeline weighting in such emplacements.
dne proposed alternative for dealing with the problem of maintaining the positioning of a pipeline within a subterranean emplacement is disclosed in US patent 3,170,663 - Fite. This patent discloses an anchoring device for a pipeline, which incorporates an arcuate collar that is secured in straddling relation about the upper 2~'~ ~00~
exterior surface of the pipeline. The collar is held in tensioned relation against that surface by a laterally spaced apart pair of anchoring rods having spiral flights thereon that extend beyond the under surface of the pipeline are adapted to positively engage the underlying soil substrate on either side thereof.
Another proposal entails the use, in muskeg environments, of simple two-dimensional sheets of a fabric that are intended to be deployed in a pipeline trench, overlaying the installed pipeline.
Backfill is then layered over the fabric in the hope that the collected "unit weight" of the resulting overburden will be sufficient to counter any buoyant forces that local ground water might exert on the pipeline. Resort to this approach has been entertained only when alternatives are simply not available, (ie in remote muskeg areas).
Moreover, there is a risk that ground water flows will displace some of the "unit weight" of the "disturbed" backfill from above the pipeline. This would be a particular problem in areas where ground surface contours or the grading of the emplacement or a non-level transit of the pipeline, might result in either or both surface and ground water flows that could be channelled within the fabric, almost in the manner of an artificial canal.
There remains a need in the art to reconcile the necessity of anchoring pipelines for the purpose of avoiding or reducing the impact of some of the problems set out above, with the apparently antithetical desire for any reduction in the high costs heretofore associated with the practices that the industry has been willing to embrace.
~~~~Q~~
S~Y OF TIE INVENTION:
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a conduit weighting device comprising containment means adapted to supportingly receive therein a superposed charge of ballast material having an associated unit weight. The superposed ballast material is received in contained relation within an enclosure that is circumscribed on all sides by upwardly extending walls of the containment means. These walls are adapted to retainingly confine the ballast charge between them. The containment means is adapted to be positioned in saddling, superposed relation over a conduit of one description or another, to thereby at least partly counter displacement forces that might otherwise effect the positioning of the conduit.
The confinement of the ballast in the manner provided for in accordance with the above, is important to the reliability of the present device. Were the ballast otherwise unconstrained in any material way, then sloping or a wash-out of a loose ballast, might seriously erode any margin of safety that had been contemplated in the unit-weight design parameters associated with an emplacement.
Clearly, such a possibility would not be even remotely acceptable to an industry which has historically gone to great lengths and expense to ensure against risks of that type.
The present invention finds application, inter alia, in connection with subterranean emplacements. In such environments buoyant hydrostatic forces might tend to ~~float~~ a trench-installed conduit, notwithstanding any countervailing influence of backfill overburden. In addition, the current of any hydraulic flows 2f~'~~~~~
associated with the local ground water, might also encourage the conduit to be displaced from its intended location.
Preferably the walls are particularly adapted with a view to providing substantial isolation of the ballast charge from external hydraulic flows. This is particularly significant in situations were any substantial proportion of the unit weight of the ballast comprises other than coarse mineral materials. Finer materials otherwise might be carried off under the influence of any significant hydraulic flows, thereby diminishing the unit weight of the ballast, and opening the door to the possibility that a ground water buoyant effect might exceed the ability of the remaining ballast to resist the anticipated conduit displacement forces.
Moreover, when unconsolidated material is relied upon to secure a conduit emplacement, the unit weight which actually acts to secure the conduit in place is limited primarily to the mass of the vertical overburden and the mechanical shear characteristics thereof.
Accordingly, in situations of the type wherein a vertical overburden, such as trench backfill for example, is relied upon to hold the conduit in position, a certain minimum height of overburden, (typically specified in the art as a ~~unit weight's parameter of any particular overburden material), is required to deal with any anticipated displacement forces. In accordance with the present invention, however, the unit weight of an enclosed but otherwise unconsolidated ballast material can be made to bear on the conduit in resisting displacement thereof, without necessarily having the ballast material arranged vertically above the conduit. The emplacement in such situations, therefore need not necessarily be as deep when the present invention is employed.
While the present invention is not necessarily constrained in its application to any particular type of conduit, it is nevertheless especially valuable in connection with pipelines, and in particular with. petroleum, petrochemical, or other chemical pipelines.
In accordance with an especially preferred form of the present invention, at least the walls of the containment means are formed from a flexible material. Related advantages ensue to an even greater degree in embodiments of this aspect of the invention, wherein the entirety of the containment means is formed from such a flexible material.
More particularly, advantages related to this aspect of the present invention include the fact that such embodiments are relatively inexpensive to manufacture, yet can be produced from suitably durable materials. Naturally, the selected material should stand up well to subterranean conditions associated with in-ground pipeline emplacements, and other environmental effects to which any other particular application might lead them to be exposed. While any number of appropriately environment-stable materials will undoubtedly occur to the person skilled in the relevant art, examples of such include heavy gauge polymer products such as, by way of example only, polypropylene, polyester or nylon fabrics. Moreover, the resulting devices tend to be both lightweight and compact. They can be mass-produced, and stored without consuming undue amounts of storage space, and the production lead time required for making them available in commercial quantity is relatively short, thereby easing a logistical constraint that heretofore has always been a concern in organizing pipeline laying and repair projects.
Not the least of the advantages of such a flexible device lay in the fact that it can be made from a unitary fabric web adapted to be formed into containment means, wherein portions of the web correspond to respective wall portions adapted to be mutually secured in enclosure defining relation. Upon erection the assembled web forms the containment means whose plurality of walls in turn define an enclosure for receiving ballast material in the manner already elaborated upon herein.
Where stitching is utilized in the construction, a predetermination of the anticipated loading to which the stitched seams will be exposed should be undertaken. This is well within the extant skill in the present and related arts, having regard, generally, for the teachings herein contained.
Various pieces of hardware may be usefully employed in combination with the present invention, to facilitate filling, and/of handling of the device according to the present invention. Grommets, for example, can be advantageously employed in a manner such as that set forth in greater detail elsewhere herein.
Use of flexible materials in accordance with the practice of one general aspect of the present invention allows for the weight of the contained ballast, in a quantum predetermined by buoyancy offsetting design criteria, to be borne other than by the top of the pipe. The mass of material in the side portions of the containment means (as might by analogy be referred to as "saddle bag" portions), need only be exerted on the top of the pipeline in response to buoyant displacement forces. In this sense, the present system is dynamically responsive to the amount of buoyancy the water exerts. In the absence of buoyant displacement forces, the pipeline only need bear the unit weight of the vertically immediate overburden. Moreover, and perhaps even more importantly, the flexibility of the containment means allows for installation to be less exacting a procedure than it might otherwise have been when the prior art cast cement arches were employed. With the old cement arches too high a placement could result in the pipeline being suspended in an unweighted condition beneath the casting. On the other hand pipeline damage could ensue if all of the castings weight were crushingly borne on the pipe line during installation.
The flexible character of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, render the containment means operably responsive to the application of extrinsic containment-means shaping forces, to conform the containment means to a desired external shape in response to how those forces are applied. With the present device situated in a pipeline emplacement, the walls flexibly conform with the supporting surfaces of the underlying or adjacent surfaces of the pipeline, primarily according to the dictates of gravitational forces acting on the ballast material contained within the device. Of even greater significance, however, is the fact that the devices polymorphic character can be selectively utilized to control the conformation of the device during the filling and installation operations. In an especially preferred form of this aspect of the present invention, control and lifting straps are used to effect and maintain a predetermined, general conformation during and following the introduction of ballast, to facilitate installation of the device ~~D'~~~D~
within the emplacement. Once the lifting and control straps are relieved, with the device duly positioned within the emplacement, the device relaxes and takes up the above mentioned straddling relation over and around the adjacent pipeline surfaces. In accordance with the teachings of the present specification, it will be appreciated that these straps can be seen in retrospect, to have a functional similarity to the lines used by puppeteers to control their marionettes. The straps may be fixedly attached to the containment means. In one alternative there might only be points of attachment on the containment means, each adapted to enable a contractor to removably secure some conformational control means (be it a strap or otherwise), to the containment means for the above described purposes.
These, or for that matter any convenient functionally fungible device, can be used to facilitate the quintessential purpose thereof, namely controlled selective shaping and posturing of the containment means through the application of forces at selected points thereon.
It will, of course, be appreciated that an internal frame assembly could be used, for imparting a predetermined conformational structure to the flexible containment means contemplated herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION:
INTRODUCTION TO THE DRAWINGS:
Over the course of the description of the present invention that follows below, reference will be made to the appended drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a transverse sectional view taken through a ~0°~~Q~~
subterranean pipeline emplacement depicting the application of a pre-cast pipeline weighting device, typical of those employed in prior art pipeline emplacements;
Figure 2 is a comparable, transverse sectional view through a subterranean pipeline emplacement depicting the application of a device according to the present invention;
Figure 3 depicts a preferred form of a device according to the present invention; and, Figure 4 is a perspective view of a portion of the device depicted in Figure 3.
Referring now to Figures 2, 3 and 4 of the drawings, there is depicted a preferred em3~odiment of a conduit weighting device 1, according to the present invention, wherein a containment means 2 contains ballast material 3, within two "at least one" enclosures 4.
Enclosures 4 are defined between respective, mutually interconnected walls 5, which are adapted to conform in a straddling relation over a pipeline 6, in a pipeline emplacement such as that illustrated in Figure 2.
The depicted embodiment also includes attachment means 7, straps 8, and a folded-over and sewn lip 9.
More particularly, there is provided a containment means 2 comprising a pair of enclosures 4, each formed from respective ones of a unitary web of flexible, environmentally-stable plastic material.
Portions of each of these webs correspond to respective wall portions in containment means 2, and are adapted to be, respectively, mutually secured in enclosure defining relation in the form of a plurality of 2~'~~~~96 interconnected walls 5. As illustrated, these respective wall portions are mutually secured along seams such as those marked with reference numeral 5a, to form the containment envelope that surrounds the corresponding enclosure 4. In addition, a folded over lip 9 is formed along the bottom of each of the envelopes.
The pair of enclosures 4 are mutually, hingably secured along contacting portions 10 of mutually adjacent walls 5. Stitching is used for this purpose. In addition, attachments means 7 in the form of press-fit, rust-resistant grom.~nets, are employed to further secure the two contacting walls 5. Moreover, straps 8 are sewn along exterior surfaces of each of the enclosures 4, and extend between the enclosures 4 in bridging, mutually securing relation. In this way straps 8 reinforce the containment means 2 generally, and in particular, straddle the top of conduit 6 in an emplacement, to thereby help resist tensioned separation of the two enclosures 4.
This strap arrangement is perhaps best illustrated in Figure 4 of the drawings.
Note also that lifting the conduit weighting device 1, (relative to array 7b), by arrays 7a and 7c of attachment means grommets 7 on the respective mutually spaced apart walls 5, opens the separation between the respective bottoms of the two enclosures 4. Straps 8 reinforce walls 5, communicating the tension forces generated during such a lifting operation. On the whole, such a lift facilitates arrangement of device 1 in straddled relation over conduit 6, by conforming device 1 to permit better separation between the enclosures 4, around the upper surface of conduit s.
Another advantage that can be accrued in accordance with the ~O~aQ~~j practice of aspects of the present invention are that the depth of the trench in an emplacement need not be as deep as is required to facilitate the use of prior art trench weights. Referring in that connection to Figures ~. and 2 of the drawings, note that the prior art structure illustrated in Figure 1 occupies a substantial amount of headroom above the pipeline. This provides the necessary structural strength needed to facilitate the handling and longevity of the device. Unfortunately, the highest point of pipeline emplacements must in many cases be buried to a specified below-surface depth. If the highest point of the emplacement is the top of the prior art weight, then the pipeline itself must be buried correspondingly deeper. The device according to the present invention need not extend above the pipeline, as will be appreciated by skilled persons in light of the present disclosure. That being the case, the trench of the emplacement need not be as deep, with collateral savings in installation costs, and subsoil structure disruption. Moreover, this embodiment of the present invention is far less likely to visit damage to the pipeline during installation, than is the prior art device illustrated in Figure 1.
S~Y OF TIE INVENTION:
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a conduit weighting device comprising containment means adapted to supportingly receive therein a superposed charge of ballast material having an associated unit weight. The superposed ballast material is received in contained relation within an enclosure that is circumscribed on all sides by upwardly extending walls of the containment means. These walls are adapted to retainingly confine the ballast charge between them. The containment means is adapted to be positioned in saddling, superposed relation over a conduit of one description or another, to thereby at least partly counter displacement forces that might otherwise effect the positioning of the conduit.
The confinement of the ballast in the manner provided for in accordance with the above, is important to the reliability of the present device. Were the ballast otherwise unconstrained in any material way, then sloping or a wash-out of a loose ballast, might seriously erode any margin of safety that had been contemplated in the unit-weight design parameters associated with an emplacement.
Clearly, such a possibility would not be even remotely acceptable to an industry which has historically gone to great lengths and expense to ensure against risks of that type.
The present invention finds application, inter alia, in connection with subterranean emplacements. In such environments buoyant hydrostatic forces might tend to ~~float~~ a trench-installed conduit, notwithstanding any countervailing influence of backfill overburden. In addition, the current of any hydraulic flows 2f~'~~~~~
associated with the local ground water, might also encourage the conduit to be displaced from its intended location.
Preferably the walls are particularly adapted with a view to providing substantial isolation of the ballast charge from external hydraulic flows. This is particularly significant in situations were any substantial proportion of the unit weight of the ballast comprises other than coarse mineral materials. Finer materials otherwise might be carried off under the influence of any significant hydraulic flows, thereby diminishing the unit weight of the ballast, and opening the door to the possibility that a ground water buoyant effect might exceed the ability of the remaining ballast to resist the anticipated conduit displacement forces.
Moreover, when unconsolidated material is relied upon to secure a conduit emplacement, the unit weight which actually acts to secure the conduit in place is limited primarily to the mass of the vertical overburden and the mechanical shear characteristics thereof.
Accordingly, in situations of the type wherein a vertical overburden, such as trench backfill for example, is relied upon to hold the conduit in position, a certain minimum height of overburden, (typically specified in the art as a ~~unit weight's parameter of any particular overburden material), is required to deal with any anticipated displacement forces. In accordance with the present invention, however, the unit weight of an enclosed but otherwise unconsolidated ballast material can be made to bear on the conduit in resisting displacement thereof, without necessarily having the ballast material arranged vertically above the conduit. The emplacement in such situations, therefore need not necessarily be as deep when the present invention is employed.
While the present invention is not necessarily constrained in its application to any particular type of conduit, it is nevertheless especially valuable in connection with pipelines, and in particular with. petroleum, petrochemical, or other chemical pipelines.
In accordance with an especially preferred form of the present invention, at least the walls of the containment means are formed from a flexible material. Related advantages ensue to an even greater degree in embodiments of this aspect of the invention, wherein the entirety of the containment means is formed from such a flexible material.
More particularly, advantages related to this aspect of the present invention include the fact that such embodiments are relatively inexpensive to manufacture, yet can be produced from suitably durable materials. Naturally, the selected material should stand up well to subterranean conditions associated with in-ground pipeline emplacements, and other environmental effects to which any other particular application might lead them to be exposed. While any number of appropriately environment-stable materials will undoubtedly occur to the person skilled in the relevant art, examples of such include heavy gauge polymer products such as, by way of example only, polypropylene, polyester or nylon fabrics. Moreover, the resulting devices tend to be both lightweight and compact. They can be mass-produced, and stored without consuming undue amounts of storage space, and the production lead time required for making them available in commercial quantity is relatively short, thereby easing a logistical constraint that heretofore has always been a concern in organizing pipeline laying and repair projects.
Not the least of the advantages of such a flexible device lay in the fact that it can be made from a unitary fabric web adapted to be formed into containment means, wherein portions of the web correspond to respective wall portions adapted to be mutually secured in enclosure defining relation. Upon erection the assembled web forms the containment means whose plurality of walls in turn define an enclosure for receiving ballast material in the manner already elaborated upon herein.
Where stitching is utilized in the construction, a predetermination of the anticipated loading to which the stitched seams will be exposed should be undertaken. This is well within the extant skill in the present and related arts, having regard, generally, for the teachings herein contained.
Various pieces of hardware may be usefully employed in combination with the present invention, to facilitate filling, and/of handling of the device according to the present invention. Grommets, for example, can be advantageously employed in a manner such as that set forth in greater detail elsewhere herein.
Use of flexible materials in accordance with the practice of one general aspect of the present invention allows for the weight of the contained ballast, in a quantum predetermined by buoyancy offsetting design criteria, to be borne other than by the top of the pipe. The mass of material in the side portions of the containment means (as might by analogy be referred to as "saddle bag" portions), need only be exerted on the top of the pipeline in response to buoyant displacement forces. In this sense, the present system is dynamically responsive to the amount of buoyancy the water exerts. In the absence of buoyant displacement forces, the pipeline only need bear the unit weight of the vertically immediate overburden. Moreover, and perhaps even more importantly, the flexibility of the containment means allows for installation to be less exacting a procedure than it might otherwise have been when the prior art cast cement arches were employed. With the old cement arches too high a placement could result in the pipeline being suspended in an unweighted condition beneath the casting. On the other hand pipeline damage could ensue if all of the castings weight were crushingly borne on the pipe line during installation.
The flexible character of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, render the containment means operably responsive to the application of extrinsic containment-means shaping forces, to conform the containment means to a desired external shape in response to how those forces are applied. With the present device situated in a pipeline emplacement, the walls flexibly conform with the supporting surfaces of the underlying or adjacent surfaces of the pipeline, primarily according to the dictates of gravitational forces acting on the ballast material contained within the device. Of even greater significance, however, is the fact that the devices polymorphic character can be selectively utilized to control the conformation of the device during the filling and installation operations. In an especially preferred form of this aspect of the present invention, control and lifting straps are used to effect and maintain a predetermined, general conformation during and following the introduction of ballast, to facilitate installation of the device ~~D'~~~D~
within the emplacement. Once the lifting and control straps are relieved, with the device duly positioned within the emplacement, the device relaxes and takes up the above mentioned straddling relation over and around the adjacent pipeline surfaces. In accordance with the teachings of the present specification, it will be appreciated that these straps can be seen in retrospect, to have a functional similarity to the lines used by puppeteers to control their marionettes. The straps may be fixedly attached to the containment means. In one alternative there might only be points of attachment on the containment means, each adapted to enable a contractor to removably secure some conformational control means (be it a strap or otherwise), to the containment means for the above described purposes.
These, or for that matter any convenient functionally fungible device, can be used to facilitate the quintessential purpose thereof, namely controlled selective shaping and posturing of the containment means through the application of forces at selected points thereon.
It will, of course, be appreciated that an internal frame assembly could be used, for imparting a predetermined conformational structure to the flexible containment means contemplated herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION:
INTRODUCTION TO THE DRAWINGS:
Over the course of the description of the present invention that follows below, reference will be made to the appended drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a transverse sectional view taken through a ~0°~~Q~~
subterranean pipeline emplacement depicting the application of a pre-cast pipeline weighting device, typical of those employed in prior art pipeline emplacements;
Figure 2 is a comparable, transverse sectional view through a subterranean pipeline emplacement depicting the application of a device according to the present invention;
Figure 3 depicts a preferred form of a device according to the present invention; and, Figure 4 is a perspective view of a portion of the device depicted in Figure 3.
Referring now to Figures 2, 3 and 4 of the drawings, there is depicted a preferred em3~odiment of a conduit weighting device 1, according to the present invention, wherein a containment means 2 contains ballast material 3, within two "at least one" enclosures 4.
Enclosures 4 are defined between respective, mutually interconnected walls 5, which are adapted to conform in a straddling relation over a pipeline 6, in a pipeline emplacement such as that illustrated in Figure 2.
The depicted embodiment also includes attachment means 7, straps 8, and a folded-over and sewn lip 9.
More particularly, there is provided a containment means 2 comprising a pair of enclosures 4, each formed from respective ones of a unitary web of flexible, environmentally-stable plastic material.
Portions of each of these webs correspond to respective wall portions in containment means 2, and are adapted to be, respectively, mutually secured in enclosure defining relation in the form of a plurality of 2~'~~~~96 interconnected walls 5. As illustrated, these respective wall portions are mutually secured along seams such as those marked with reference numeral 5a, to form the containment envelope that surrounds the corresponding enclosure 4. In addition, a folded over lip 9 is formed along the bottom of each of the envelopes.
The pair of enclosures 4 are mutually, hingably secured along contacting portions 10 of mutually adjacent walls 5. Stitching is used for this purpose. In addition, attachments means 7 in the form of press-fit, rust-resistant grom.~nets, are employed to further secure the two contacting walls 5. Moreover, straps 8 are sewn along exterior surfaces of each of the enclosures 4, and extend between the enclosures 4 in bridging, mutually securing relation. In this way straps 8 reinforce the containment means 2 generally, and in particular, straddle the top of conduit 6 in an emplacement, to thereby help resist tensioned separation of the two enclosures 4.
This strap arrangement is perhaps best illustrated in Figure 4 of the drawings.
Note also that lifting the conduit weighting device 1, (relative to array 7b), by arrays 7a and 7c of attachment means grommets 7 on the respective mutually spaced apart walls 5, opens the separation between the respective bottoms of the two enclosures 4. Straps 8 reinforce walls 5, communicating the tension forces generated during such a lifting operation. On the whole, such a lift facilitates arrangement of device 1 in straddled relation over conduit 6, by conforming device 1 to permit better separation between the enclosures 4, around the upper surface of conduit s.
Another advantage that can be accrued in accordance with the ~O~aQ~~j practice of aspects of the present invention are that the depth of the trench in an emplacement need not be as deep as is required to facilitate the use of prior art trench weights. Referring in that connection to Figures ~. and 2 of the drawings, note that the prior art structure illustrated in Figure 1 occupies a substantial amount of headroom above the pipeline. This provides the necessary structural strength needed to facilitate the handling and longevity of the device. Unfortunately, the highest point of pipeline emplacements must in many cases be buried to a specified below-surface depth. If the highest point of the emplacement is the top of the prior art weight, then the pipeline itself must be buried correspondingly deeper. The device according to the present invention need not extend above the pipeline, as will be appreciated by skilled persons in light of the present disclosure. That being the case, the trench of the emplacement need not be as deep, with collateral savings in installation costs, and subsoil structure disruption. Moreover, this embodiment of the present invention is far less likely to visit damage to the pipeline during installation, than is the prior art device illustrated in Figure 1.
Claims (9)
1. A weighting device for a conduit, comprising:
a pair of opposing flexible bags adapted to receive a charge of ballast material and to extend one down each side of said conduit when installed, each said bag having an inward wall and an outward wall, said bags being connected to each other along respective inward walls, said connected inward walls being adapted to overlie said conduit when installed;
means for closing said bags once loaded with said ballast material; and reinforcement means extending around said bags to restrict deformation of said bags in response to said charge.
a pair of opposing flexible bags adapted to receive a charge of ballast material and to extend one down each side of said conduit when installed, each said bag having an inward wall and an outward wall, said bags being connected to each other along respective inward walls, said connected inward walls being adapted to overlie said conduit when installed;
means for closing said bags once loaded with said ballast material; and reinforcement means extending around said bags to restrict deformation of said bags in response to said charge.
2. A weighting device as recited in claim 1, wherein said reinforcements means comprises a plurality of straps secured to said bags.
3. ~A weighting device as recited in claim 2, wherein said straps include extended portions thereof which are not secured to said bags, and wherein said means for closing said bags comprise means adjacent upper edges of said bags for passage of said extended portions of said straps, whereby said bags may be closed by suitable routing and securing of said extended portions.
4. ~A weighting device as recited in claim 3, wherein said means for passage of said extended ends of said straps comprises a plurality of grommets.
5. ~A weighting device as recited in claim 1, wherein said connection of said bags to each other along respective inward walls is by sewing.
6. A weighting device as recited in claim 2, wherein each said strap is routed down the outward wall of one said bag, thence at least partially up the inward wall of that bag, thence down the inward wall of the opposing bag, and thence up the outward wall of the opposing bag.
7. A weighting device as recited in claim 6, wherein said straps each include an extended portion at at least one end thereof which is not secured to said bags, and wherein said means for closing said bags comprise means adjacent upper edges of said bags for-passage of said extended portions of said straps, whereby said bags may be closed by suitable routing and securing of said extended portions.
8. A weighting device as recited in claim 7, wherein said means for passage of said extended ends of said straps comprises a plurality of grommets.
9. A weighting device as recited in any one of claims 1-8, wherein said bags are open-topped prior to filling and installation.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US73773091A | 1991-07-30 | 1991-07-30 | |
| US07/737,730 | 1991-07-30 |
Publications (2)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA2075006A1 CA2075006A1 (en) | 1993-01-31 |
| CA2075006C true CA2075006C (en) | 2002-07-16 |
Family
ID=24965073
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 2075006 Expired - Lifetime CA2075006C (en) | 1991-07-30 | 1992-07-30 | Pipeline ballasting device |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA2075006C (en) |
Cited By (4)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US7862256B2 (en) | 2007-08-16 | 2011-01-04 | Crc-Evans Canada Ltd. | Pipeline weighting device and method |
| RU187432U1 (en) * | 2019-01-25 | 2019-03-06 | Общество с ограниченной ответственностью "ПетроЗемПроект" (ООО "ПетроЗемПроект") | COMPONENT TUBULAR CONNECTOR ASSEMBLY FOR POLYMERCONTAINER BALLASTING DEVICE |
| RU188387U1 (en) * | 2019-02-21 | 2019-04-09 | Общество с ограниченной ответственностью "ПетроЗемПроект" (ООО "ПетроЗемПроект") | SPACING FRAME OF POLYMERCONTAINING BALLASTING DEVICE |
| RU202235U1 (en) * | 2020-07-27 | 2021-02-08 | Владимир Эдуардович Карташян | POLYMERKONTAINER TEXTILE FRAMELESS |
Families Citing this family (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CA2488145A1 (en) | 2004-11-22 | 2006-05-22 | Hydrotech Dynamics Ltd. | Pipeline ballast and method of use |
| US8262320B2 (en) | 2009-01-29 | 2012-09-11 | Gunn Donald O | Ballast-filled pipeline weight |
-
1992
- 1992-07-30 CA CA 2075006 patent/CA2075006C/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
Cited By (4)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US7862256B2 (en) | 2007-08-16 | 2011-01-04 | Crc-Evans Canada Ltd. | Pipeline weighting device and method |
| RU187432U1 (en) * | 2019-01-25 | 2019-03-06 | Общество с ограниченной ответственностью "ПетроЗемПроект" (ООО "ПетроЗемПроект") | COMPONENT TUBULAR CONNECTOR ASSEMBLY FOR POLYMERCONTAINER BALLASTING DEVICE |
| RU188387U1 (en) * | 2019-02-21 | 2019-04-09 | Общество с ограниченной ответственностью "ПетроЗемПроект" (ООО "ПетроЗемПроект") | SPACING FRAME OF POLYMERCONTAINING BALLASTING DEVICE |
| RU202235U1 (en) * | 2020-07-27 | 2021-02-08 | Владимир Эдуардович Карташян | POLYMERKONTAINER TEXTILE FRAMELESS |
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| CA2075006A1 (en) | 1993-01-31 |
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