Abstract: An apparatus and method for towing a pipeline in a body of water to a place where the pipeline is to be laid on the bed of the body of water, the pipeline having a positive buoyancy and being provided with trail-ropes distributed therealong which drag on the bed while the pipeline is being towed and maintain it at a certain distance above the bed, wherein some at least of the trail-ropes are connected to the pipeline at points spaced apart therein in such manner that such trail-ropes are formed with arcuate portions extending between the points of attachment to the pipeline so that when said arcuate portions drag upon the bed they are retained substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the pipeline thereby to oppose drift by a transverse current, said trail-ropes also optimally comprising means for penetrating the bed so as to offer increased resistance to drift.

Abstract: Cast-in-place concrete pipe reinforced with fibers and the method of making such reinforced cast-in-place concrete pipe is disclosed. The apparatus used in making such reinforced cast-in-place concrete pipe is described.

Abstract: A marine oil storage installation includes at least one floating type oil storage tank having a double bottom and double walls and is provided with shore connection means. Protector means composed of at least one line of floating members surrounds each oil storage tank for protecting each oil storage tank from damage as the result of waves and contacting moving objects and for preventing oil from flowing out. Mooring means for drawing each oil storage tank and, loading arm means carried on the mooring means adapted for connection and disconnection with the shore connection means on each tank are also provided. A shore based facility is installed on the shore or on an artificial land and communicates with the loading arm means, and a platform is installed in the sea for moorage of tankers and is provided with means communicating with the shore based facility for feeding oil between the tankers and the shore based facility.

Abstract: A device which includes a ram and a tube, which device can be used for the production of earth holes and poles which are located in these holes and which poles are made of poured or compressed concrete and a process using this device.

Abstract: A building system for seismic-active areas includes a base structure and an upper structure connected to the base structure by a system of connector means which collectively provide a relatively rigid interconnection under normal conditions and a relatively flexible connection when subjected to seismic disturbances. When the building system is subjected to seismic disturbances, rigid connector members fail by buckling and other connector members flex without failing to provide the relatively flexible interconnection.

Abstract: An off-shore drilling and production platform with a working deck for location above the water level and with legs for supporting the working deck and for resting on the sea bed. The legs diverge downwardly and have hollow sections while being interconnected at their upper regions only.

Abstract: A concrete segment for a tunnel lining, having an end connectable to an end of another identical segment abutting thereagainst by means of connecting dowels insertable from an end of the segment remote from the abutting end thereof or from one side of the segment into two channels within the segments, each channel extending through an end of the segment and into the end of said abutting segment, the channels being disposed at an angle to one another whereby the segments are held together when the dowels are in position.

Abstract: A float device for use in laying a submarine pipeline from a launching base, comprising one or more tubes containing a liquid less dense than water, such as a hydrocarbon, and fixed to the pipeline so as to form therealong a plurality of compartments isolated from each other and each communicating with the sea via an opening or a pipe opening towards the bottom. Means may be provided for opening in each compartment a passage opening towards the top and for recovering the less dense liquid, driven by the water, to the outlet of said passages, or even for releasing the tube or tubes from the pipeline.

Abstract: Device for embedding in the ground a line of seismic receivers, comprising handling means for unwinding said line from storage reels placed on a vehicle, means for digging a trench into the ground, including a vibrating tool hauled behind said vehicle, a guiding member for guiding the line to the bottom of the trench, associated to the vibrating tool through elastic means so as to substantially dampen the vibrations imparted to the guiding member and consequently to the receivers of the line guided therewith.

Abstract: In a method of constructing an artificial island wherein an envelope or membrane is filled with sand or other permeable material and during filling water is removed from the body of deposited material by suction, drainage of water from the deposited material is improved by the provision of at least one drainage tube which extends downwardly through the body of material and contains perforations along its length through which water may drain to a drainage layer at the base of the island and in communication with a suction pipe. To prevent water being drawn into the part of the drainage tube above the level of the deposited material the pipe is closed by a closure means which is moved upwardly as the level of deposited material rises. There is also described an artificial island formed by the improved method.

Abstract: A collapsible and expansible barrage comprising a threshold structure dised at the bottom of the waterway, a metallic flap, provided with an upturned-glass type of air-tank, hinged to said threshold structure, and a flexible sheet connected at one of its end to the threshold structure and to the other end to the threshold structure; the flap and the threshold structure are further connected one to the other by means of a damped tie-rod.

Abstract: A device for controlling the flow of water between an irrigation ditch and an adjacent field. A conduit having a first end opening into the irrigation ditch and a second end opening into the field to be irrigated. The cover is pivotally attached to the first end of the conduit by means of a "J"-shaped hinge. A handle is provided on the exterior of the cover and can be engaged by a manually-held instrument to pivot the cover to a position above the conduit where it will rest due to the configuration of the hinge part. The conduit is positioned relative to the irrigation ditch such that the first end is recessed inwardly of one side wall of the ditch and extends below the bottom wall of the ditch.

Abstract: Manoeuvrable weir comprising at least one flap hinged to a threshold shel laid on the bottom of a waterway to be dammed. The flap foresees openings on its surface from which lead out conduits which debouch in correspondence of the threshold structure, creating over it a water current.

Abstract: A composite pile structure is formed from a lower wooden section and a tubular metal section connected to the wooden member and filled with concrete. The wooden section is first started into the ground a desired distance, and the metal section is then supported on the upper end of the wooden member. A mandrel member is located in driving engagement with the upper end of the metal section and the lower end of the mandrel is supported in spaced relation to the wooden member. Initial hammer energy of limited intensity is applied to drive the metal section into the wooden member until the bottom of the mandrel comes into contact with the top of the wooden member. Thereafter, hammer energy of greater intensity is applied to the connected sections and concentrated against the surface area of the wooden member enclosed by the imbedded metal section. The pile driving operation is rapidly carried on, and splitting of the wooden member is avoided by applying the hammer energy in the manner described.

Abstract: Anchoring arrangements for structures such as offshore towers. Wedges which fit down into spaces defined by downwardly converging surfaces fixed to the structure and to an anchor member, respectively, are held in frictional locking engagement by means of bias weights. Two sets of wedge type interlocks are provided in longitudinally displaced relationship and are arranged in reverse order so that downward bias forces on the wedges serves to provide locking against relative movement in opposite longitudinal directions.

Abstract: An apparatus for handling hose underwater and specifically for hose connection to an underwater pipe including a saddle adapted to receive a hose, a clamp for retaining the hose in the saddle, said saddle being movable, means for pulling a hose underwater into said saddle, and means for pulling the hose, after it has been brought into alignment with the underwater pipe, into sufficiently close proximity to the end of the underwater pipe for completing the connection. The method of making an underwater hose connection including the steps of pulling a hose down in the water, orienting a saddle to a position in which its axis is parallel to the axis of the hose, pulling the hose into the saddle, clamping the hose in the saddle, orienting the saddle to position the hose in axial alignment with the pipe to which the hose is to be connected and moving the hose into sufficiently close proximity for its connection to the underwater pipe.

Abstract: A stationary offshore platform is protected against damage from moving ice sheets by a conical shield surrounding the platform support structure and having means, such as a pneumatic biasing system, for raising or lowering the shield along the platform support. A system of mooring lines, thrustors, or the like is used to rotate the shield about the platform support. After an advancing ice sheet contacts the narrower upper portion of the shield, the shield is raised so that a wider lower portion of the shield can exert an upward force on the ice sheet to break the ice into pieces. The shield is rotated, while in its elevated position, to carry the broken ice with it to a location downstream from the advancing ice sheet. The shield is then lowered to dump back into the ocean the ice pieces broken by the upstroke of the shield. Means are provided for heating the exterior surfaces of the shield to melt ice pieces sticking to it.

Abstract: A pump and pump manifolding system is disclosed for producing selected directional flow across a barrier, such as a levee, between at least a plurality of adjacent reservoirs such as shallow ponds. Typically, a housing which has at least two sidewalls is placed in the barrier. One of the sidewalls forms the fluid-tight barrier or interface with the pond on one side of the levee. The other of the sidewalls forms the fluid-tight barrier or interface with the pond on the other side. The housing itself is divided into upper and lower fluid chambers; the lower fluid chamber is adapted for the inflow of fluid to be pumped and the upper fluid chamber adapted for the outflow of fluid to be pumped. A pump, typically of the high flow, low head, impeller or propeller variety, has an intake communicated to the lower chamber and a discharge communicated to the upper chamber.

Abstract: Pipes which are to be inserted vertically into the sea bed for the extraction of fluids therefrom, such as liquids and gases, are connected together in groups, with each pipe group being constructed on shore and then supported horizontally by the water while it is being moved to a platform site. The pipes are then flooded to turn the pipe package to a vertical position and the package is then connected with a platform by being engaged in a receiving groove in the platform edge. The pipe packages are then driven vertically into the sea bed and can then be fixedly connected to the platform and suitable connections made thereto for the flow of fluids upwardly in the sea bed through the pipe packages to the platform.

Abstract: The swell of a body of water is abated by dissipation of its hydraulic energy in response to variations of water head under the crest and under the trough of the waves. For this purpose, an enclosure is toto submerged in this body of water. It has on the one hand orifices designed to allow only a one-way flow of water upon exertion of a differential pressure of given sign, and on the other hand restricted or throttled passages designed to produce duct losses upon traverse thereof by water.