Stability of Grounded Spray Ice Structures

In the 1970’s and 1980’s, a number of grounded ice islands were used as drilling platforms in the Beaufort Sea. These islands were constructed by spraying sea water into the air to form ice, gradually building up a large platform area that eventually grounded on the seabed. One important factor in t...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Barker, Anne, Timco, Garry
Format: Report
Language:unknown
Published: National Research Council Canada 2004
Subjects:
Online Access:https://dx.doi.org/10.4224/12328582
https://nrc-publications.canada.ca/eng/view/object/?id=581fe7bb-8269-47ca-a148-e3c83e1121df
Description
Summary:In the 1970’s and 1980’s, a number of grounded ice islands were used as drilling platforms in the Beaufort Sea. These islands were constructed by spraying sea water into the air to form ice, gradually building up a large platform area that eventually grounded on the seabed. One important factor in the feasibility of using ice in such a manner concerns the sliding resistance of the grounded spray ice. Reports and papers from ice islands, relief well ice pads and spray ice barriers were studied in detail. This study provides both qualitative and quantitative knowledge on the sliding resistance of grounded spray ice structures. It illustrates that these structures were very stable with respect to seabed sliding.