You can come from the shop floor and still become a great engineer
I started work at the age of 16 on the shop floor, cutting beams and welding in a local fabrication company in Glasgow. I quickly moved on to become a detail design draughtsman while working on an HNC (Higher National Certificate) at Glasgow College of Technology.
In April 1983 I moved to Saudi Arabia, where I experienced my first taste of structural engineering. After this I worked in locations around the world including India, Australia and Norway.
I had a chip on my shoulder that people would not take me seriously without a degree, which motivated me to prove that you can come from the shop floor and still become a great engineer.
这是一个多变和t以来成功的事业hen: one highlight was joining the BP’s North Sea “Bruce project” as a Senior Structural Engineer in 1990 - and leaving in 1992 as Lead Engineer. Following that I have worked largely on UK offshore platforms and I am now responsible for looking after all of Shell’s offshore platforms in the North Sea.
The challenge of offshore structures
As structural engineers we are trying to deliver an installation in the middle of the sea that can resist all the imposed forces and where personnel can live and work safely.
The structure we design has huge forces acting on it: the effect of wind, wave and current can act from any direction over 365 days of the year.
In addition, we have the topsides loading to consider, which itself is a large weight of up to 30,000 tonnes, with wind loads acting on it. To this end the foundation piles needed to support the structure need to be piled into the seabed up to 90m deep.
设计平台
主要结构必须设计为可以抵抗极端波的影响的标准。对于现有的安装，这是基于平台运行的位置的“ 100年”波返回期。
这些波高的高度可以高达30米。随着细节在实际波浪概况上变得越来越成熟，新的ISO代码现在必须设计结构以承受“ 10,000年”的波浪返回期。
维护平台
We also think about how we look after and maintain existing offshore platforms: age is a primary concern. Most UK offshore structures were designed for an average 25-year service life, but a large number have passed this point.
我们必须提供衰老的寿命延长（ALE）报告，以确保我们拥有有关结构的最新信息。这种啤酒提供了必要的验证和保证，即它们是安全的，并且可以超越其原始设计寿命。
退役
结构工程师对于近海结构的退役也至关重要。在90％的情况下，主要的挑战是，您无法以相同的方式删除结构 - 在安装更改和添加的服务寿命上，将覆盖现有的提升点，也可以将它们全部删除。在重复使用之前，请全面检查剩余的起重点 - 如果不合规，则必须设计新的举重点。
技术改变设计
多年来，技术已经极大地改变了海上结构工程，以满足石油和天然气业务的需求。在1960年代，大多数结构都是为墨西哥湾和中东海湾浅水位置（最多50m）设计的 - 主要结构（称为“夹克”）是自动浮动的，或者是驳船的，而顶部则是顶部的。在重达2000吨的模块部分中构建。
在1970年代，重点变为在北海的建筑物，最多可达150m，然后在墨西哥湾的深水中更深。在1980年代，工程师被要求设计为更深的水域（北海最高200m，在墨西哥湾的300m），逐渐看到了浮动生产系统的引入。
在1988年7月6日发生的悲惨吹笛者阿尔法事件发生后，该行业被振作起来，并在库伦勋爵（Lord Cullen）报告了紧急关闭价值（ESDV）和海底隔离阀（SSIV）等创新。
The introduction of these valves meant individual assets could be isolated from each other - unlike on Piper Alpha, where adjacent platforms continued to produce oil and feed the fire.
Enhanced blast and fire protection systems were also introduced i.e. fire protection systems to withstand hydrocarbon jet fire, and blast walls to segregate and protect the living quarters from production areas.
到1990年代，工程师正在建造平台，以在墨西哥湾高达1000m的水域进行钻探。这一时期还引入了较大的升降驳船，该驳船可以安装高达8400吨的夹克和一件重达10,000吨的顶部集成甲板。它肯定是在巨大的规模上进行工程。
未来
由于油价低，目前，新的离岸工程项目正在放缓。但是，我将来可以看到更多的是创新，例如浮动生产存储和卸料（FPSO）船只和浮动液化天然气（FLNG）飞船，它们将提取和精炼合并为一个离岸设施。
无论如何，海上结构工程师将继续寻找在不断发展，创新和激动人心的行业中满足世界石油和天然气需求的方法。