Concrete Island Drilling System (CIDS)
Glomar Beaufort 1 (now called the Orlan)
Client: |
Global Marine Development, Inc. |
Project Location: |
Alaska, U.S.A. & Sakhalin Island, Russia |
Project Scope: |
Design and Construction supervision of a reinforced pre-stressed concrete platform |
Project Details: |
325ft. x 325ft. floating platform, oil exploration drill rig and facilities, 100-key hotel |
Challenge: |
Concrete platform to be afloat and grounded while resisting ice pressures of 130,000 lbs./ft.2 (6.2 MPa) |
Solution: |
Use of Alfred A. Yee’s patented Honeycomb System with pre-stressed reinforced concrete walls provided buoyancy, strength, and flexible structural system for floating platform base. |
Results: |
Construction was completed within 4 months, in time for launch during the warmer summer months into the Arctic seas off Alaska. Completed in 1984, total cost of construction was US$75 million. The CIDS platform, Glomar Beaufort 1, was leased to Exxon Mobile for US$45 million/year . In 2004 it was renamed the Orlan and the facilities aboard the platform were completely refurbished for oil drilling and production off the coast of Russia. |
