Laying of submarine pipes

Abstract

The invention relates to a method of laying submarine pipelines by submergence from the surface or from an adjacent level with one point of the pipeline being secured near to the surface so that the pipeline on being submerged comprises a section descending from this point towards the bed and connected by a curved section to the part of the pipeline already laid on the bed, in which weights are suspended from the pipeline at intervals thereon, at least at the time of its submergence, such that the assembly has a slightly negative buoyancy and the pipeline sinks slowly in the water until it is slowed down and stopped when the weights contact the bed, the weights thus acting as a guide rope. The invention is applicable both to the case in which the sections of the pipeline are assembled on a floating device and the pipeline is lowered into the water as assembly proceeds while the floating device is moved along the laying course, and to the case in which the pipeline, previously constructed by the assembly of a certain number of sections, is towed along the laying course and is associated with floats which maintain the pipeline on the surface of the water or a short distance therebeneath and which can be put out of action to allow the pipeline to sink.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.