Bullwinkle's Big Brother

by Rita Robison, Contributing editor; Civil Engineering, 345 E. 47St., New York, NY 10017,


Serial Information: Civil Engineering—ASCE, 1995, Vol. 65, Issue 7, Pg. 44-47


Document Type: Feature article

Abstract:

In 1980, the Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award went to Cognac, Shell Oil Co.'s then-tallest offshore platform. In 1989 the Bullwinkle platform became the new water-depth champ. Now, Shell has been honored for an unprecedented third time. The Auger tension leg platform (TLP) in the Gulf of Mexico, the world's tallest man-made structure, breaks all records for a permanent drilling and oil-production facility. Only the fourth rig of its type ever built, it cost $1.2 billion; involved 900 contractors and vendors worldwide; and had hull and topsides first fabricated on separate continents, then mated offshore during hurricane season. Twelve separate technical papers were needed to describe its design and construction at the 1994 Offshore Technology Conference. The Auger TLP--Shell Oil Co.'s first tension leg platform and the Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement for 1995--can be called the big brother of Bullwinkle, the 1,615 ft high platform that won the award six years ago.

Subject Headings: Offshore platforms | Tension members | Offshore construction | Awards and prizes | Seasonal variations | Ocean engineering | Man-made disasters

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