Digging method and assembly for laying a pipeline in the bed of a body of water
AssigneeSaipem S.P.A.
InventorsMassimo Bellin, Giovanni Massari, Paolo Bonel
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of laying a pipeline in the bed of a body of water advancing a digging assembly along a pipeline laid along a path on the bed of the body of water, and digging a trench along the path in the bed of the body of water by means of the digging assembly, so a portion of pipeline settles onto the bottom of the trench. The method also includes acquiring, by means of the digging assembly, data related to the bathymetric profile of the portion of pipeline laid on the bottom of the trench, and comparing the acquired data with a set of permissible values. Further, the method includes emitting an error signal when the acquired data does not fall within the set of permissible values.
Claims19
A method of laying a pipeline in the bed of a body of water, the method comprising the steps of:
- advancing a digging assembly along a pipeline laid along a path on the bed of the body of water;
- digging a trench along the path in the bed of the body of water by means of the digging assembly, so a portion of pipeline settles onto the bottom of the trench;
- acquiring, by means of the digging assembly, data related to the bathymetric profile of the portion of pipeline laid on the bottom of the trench, the data including the depth of the portion of pipeline laid on the bottom of the trench;
- comparing the acquired data with a set of permissible values indicating permissible arching of the pipeline in a vertical plane;
- emitting an error signal when the acquired data does not fall within the set of permissible values;
- and
- modifying a depth of the trench as a function of the error signal to modify arching of the pipeline in the vertical plane.
A digging assembly for laying a pipeline in the bed of a body of water, the digging assembly being advanced along a path defined by a pipeline laid on the bed of a body of water, the digging assembly comprising:
- at least one digging machine configured to dig a trench in the bed of the body of water, close to the pipeline, so a portion of pipeline settles onto the bottom of the trench;
- and
- a control device configured to acquire data related to the bathymetric profile of the portion of pipeline laid on the bottom of the trench, to compare the acquired data with a set of permissible values indicating permissible arching of the pipeline in a vertical plane, and to emit an error signal when the acquired data does not fall within the set of permissible values, wherein the acquired data indicates the depth of the portion of pipeline laid on the bottom of the trench;
- and
- wherein the digging assembly is configured to modify a depth of the trench as a function of the error signal to modify arching of the pipeline in the vertical plane.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.