Maui tower settled into place

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34043, 6 January 1976, Page 14

Maui tower settled into place

i (A’.Z. Press Association) \ NEW PLYMOUTH, January 5. ■ Behaving perfectly, the Maui tower today settled exactly 2-1 feet down into the sandy ocean floor on to which it was placed the previous day. The operation on Sundayl to upend the tower and sink it to the seabed went like clockwork, after a series of. frustrating delays. Today, work continued ; at the location, 21 miles’ from Oaonui. south Taran-i aki, where the pipeline will; come ashore, and once again things went smoothly. The 6300-tonne steel tower was designed to sink 24ft into the sandy sea floor. In case anything went wrong,, however, two systems were; built into the structure: one to lift it. if it went deeper than 24ft and another to help the tower on its way if it did not sink of its own j accord. Neither the jetting system —for digging the tower legs deeper — nor the air riser, equipment — for lifting it! back to the required depth• —was needed, however. The tower reached its design depth of 24ft below the surface just before 5 p.m. today. Shell BP Todd Oil Services, Ltd’s operations' manager (Mr P. Fried) said. Four pin piles, each 685 ft long, will now be driven in sections to hold the tower in ; position. This operation will take several days. Then, a temporary work deck will be placed on the

platform and a crane, now: lon board a barge at Port. Taranaki, will be lifted on to > that platform. Piling proper} I will then start. Once the. pin piles are in position the derrick barge, Kakan Pioneer 1, will leave I the tower site for the coast; at Oaonui and will begin its; prime function —that of lay-1 ing the underwater pipeline from the Oaonui coast back) out to the tower.