Submarine Manufacturing and Products Ltd (SMP), a leading UK based manufacturer and…
June, 27, 2018
Subsea Pile Foundation Positioning Template

Houlder’s Subsea Pile Foundation Template is used to fix the relative positions and verticality of piles on the seabed to ensure that jacket legs fit into the pre-installed piles. It is also capable of providing a corrective moment to the pile to resolve any misalignment.
The template will be deployed to the seabed and shall be used to guide and secure the pile during hammering and/or drilling operations.
Click here to download the Subsea Pile Foundation Template brochure
The benefits of the tool are;
- Designed for 2.5m diameter piles, but can be used for smaller piles through minor adjustment
- Can allow for range of hammer sizes and as the Jaws can open fully and a follower is not necessary
- Mud mat design can be amended to meet with project specifics, to be agreed during detailed design and depending on Jetting Options
- Design keeps vessel integration requirements to a minimum
- The jaws can retract keeping deck space to a minimum
- The system has a clamping mechanism meaning that it can support 3 or 4 piles on the seabed at one time and still maintain on bottom stability
- The jaws have deep pads in contact with the pin pile reducing the loads on the pile to within the pile’s capacity
Key features are;
- Quick to deploy and recover
- Can accommodate 5° soil level changes
- Can be deployed / recovered utilising a single or dual point lift
- Open design means passing through water will allow for ease of flow
- The mud mat can be set at 5° angle during lowering through the splash zone meaning less forces
- during the transition
- Mud mat will be designed to allow easy release from seabed, depending upon soil conditions a jetting system can be added to ease the release
- Fully opening jaws allows for full retraction avoiding risk of pile jamming in the structure
- Fully opening jaws allow piles to be hammered to very low stick-up heights if required, as
- the hammer can pass through the open jaw
- Does not require a follower
- Use of all jaws allows relative pile position to be maintained
- Can hold pile during changes from vibro to hydraulic hammers
- Integrated inclinometers and cameras can be fitted to allow to maintain and monitor verticality of pile
- Has an ROV interface panel for intervention if required
Operational durations are as follows;
- Jaw opening: 4min
- Jaw Closing: 6min
- Jaw Lock/Unlock: 1min
- Pile Levelling Cylinder (Each): 5min
- Template levelling process: 10min
