Offshore Foundation Testing

Offshore Pile Driving

GRL Engineers has helped achieve successful pile installation for offshore platforms in fields throughout the world. This expertise translates seamlessly to the installation of offshore wind farms supported by driven piles. GRL generally starts with a pile drivability study. Using the Offshore Wave version of the wave equation analysis of piles software program GRLWEAP, GRL evaluates if the proposed driving system is suitable for the project and anticipates installation conditions that may require special precautions.

Once pile driving starts, GRL monitors driving stresses and the actual efficiency of the hammer (energy transferred to the pile) with a Pile Driving Analyzer® (PDA) system. GRL may also provide equipment and expertise to assess hammer performance (stroke, potential and kinetic energy), an important concern on an offshore platform. Pile driving monitoring requires strain transducers and accelerometers attached to the pile to supply the data required for analysis with a PDA. If necessary, special underwater strain transducers and accelerometers are used for offshore platform foundations.

Immediately following pile driving, GRL uses the measurements collected during pile monitoring to evaluate the pile capacity using CAPWAP® analyses. This provides an assessment of shaft resistance and end bearing at the time of testing. Piles are sometimes tested during restrike to assess capacity gain with time. To minimize downtime of offshore operations, GRL provides backup equipment and personnel to the site.