Abstract: The invention is a means to eliminate thermal or pressure walking of a pipeline by applying a constant axial force to the pipeline through the interposition of a constant-thrust device between a point fixed to the pipeline and a point on a foundation, which pair of points are otherwise unconstrained relative to each other in the longitudinal direction of the pipeline.

Abstract: This invention is a constant-thrust device intended for use in submerged or pressured environments based on a piston-in-cylinder arrangement in which the enclosed chamber is evacuated or gas-filled to comparatively low pressure. The invention extends to boundary envelopes of general shape of which a cylinder is a simple form and to movable boundaries between pressured and unpressured spaces of which a piston is a simple form.