Deck section loading

Method of transferring a load from land to a marine vessel with elevating fluid bearings comprising the steps of

• placing a portion of the vessel adjacent the land,
• ballasting the vessel
• to ground only the portion of the vessel adjacent the land while leaving another portion floating,
• to leave the vessel free to change inclination to refloat the vessel upon reballasting after load transfer, and
• to maintain the inclination of the deck of the vessel relative to the land compatible with the elevating range of the bearings during the movement of the load from land to the vessel,
• floating the load on the bearings, moving the load onto the vessel, grounding the load on the vessel, and reballasting the vessel to float the vessel.

Method of loading an elongated structure including several top connected, vertical, free ended legs spaced apart along the length of the structure onto an elongated vessel comprising the steps of

• moving the vessel to adjacent a dock,
• ballasting the vessel to ground the end of the vessel nearest the dock,
• placing a gangplank between the dock and the vessel,
• floating each leg of the structure on an individual fluid bearing,
• moving the structure lengthwise from the dock over the gangplank onto the vessel, and
• maintaining desired leg loading during said moving by adjusting the elevation of each leg.

Method of transporting a load comprising:

• providing a plurality of supports each having an upper portion and a lower portion relatively movable with respect to each other,
• each upper portion having a top and each lower portion having a bottom,
• supporting the load at a plurality of support positions on the tops of said upper portions,
• floating the bottom of each lower portion,
• moving the load while the load is supported by the supports whose bottoms are floating, and
• adjusting the distance between said upper and lower portion of said supports at each position during the moving as required to effect desired load distribution during the moving.

Method of moving a structure having several aligned top connected vertical legs comprising the steps of

• mounting each leg on a temporary transport unit receiving base with an articulated stool between the leg and base,
• moving a fluid transport unit including a fluid elevator atop a fluid bearing under each base,
• raising the load with the elevators,
• floating the load with the bearings, and
• moving the load while maintaining desired load distribution on the legs by adjusting the elevators as needed and allowing the bases to rock relative to the legs.

Fluid bearing path comprising

• an elongated vessel disposed in a body of water,
• a yard including a slab extending to the water,
• a non-floating rest adjacent to and located at a distance from the slab at a level below the slab,
• said vessel having a deck and transverse beams supporting the deck,
• a pair of parallel lines of track extending longitudinally over the deck of the vessel spanning said transverse beams,
• said vessel having below deck level support means movable laterally across said rest, while the vessel moves laterally through the body of water, for supporting one end of the vessel on said rest,
• said support means of said vessel resting on said rest with the length of the vessel extending away from said rest and the other end of said vessel being spaced apart from said rest and floating,
• a pair of gangplanks extending from said slab to said pair of lines of track on said vessel, one end of each gangplank being supported on the deck of the vessel, and
• means different from said rest for supporting the other ends of said gangplanks, the last said means being disposed underneath said gangplanks spaced from said one end of the vessel in the direction toward said slab,
• said slab, gangplanks, and tracks having top surfaces which are planer, imperforate and smooth, adapting them to fluid bearings,
• said top surfaces having contiguous edges which are substantially co-level,
• the inclination of the top surfaces of said slab, gangplanks, and tracks being no greater than plus or minus two percent.