Geotechnical Issues in Deep and Ultra Deep Waters

Abstract

The oil industry’s success in finding hydrocarbons in deep water has led to a number of important economic and technical challenges involving, among others, new drilling procedures, new structural concepts and configurations, new types of foundations and new materials. In this article we discuss some of the problems that have been encountered in the area of geotechnical engineering, with special emphasis on deep and ultra‐deep waters. After a brief review of the historical developments and a short description of typical soil profiles in the sea bottom for different parts of the world, the article concentrates on three main topics in need of additional integrated theoretical and experimental research: the design of reliable anchors that can resist significant vertical loads (or loads with an important vertical component) as imposed by vertical tethers or taut mooring lines; the economic characterization of the subsea soil conditions and their properties; and the identification of geotechnical hazards such as over pressured sands, hydrate formations, and slope instability.