manufacture of these immense structures is done in specialized land-based 

 facilities known as platform fabrication yards. 



Platform fabrication yards are large, active industrial sites, which 

 require heavy duty equipment and machinery, large quantities of steel pipe 

 and tubing, and a substantial start-up investment ($30 to $60 million). 

 The largest may employ more than 2,000 workers when operating at peak 

 capacity [14]. Platform yards assemble rather than manufacture prod- 

 ucts, and their potential for continuous and harmful industrial pollu- 

 tion is minimal. There are now four major yards in the United States; 

 expectations are that not more than two additional major yards will be 

 built to meet the demand from all future OCS activities. 



A single yard may simultaneously construct several jackets (platform 

 frameworks) and smaller platform components and operate its own pipe mill. 

 The deck and smaller platform components are built either at the platform 

 fabrication yard or at a marine construction yard that can provide the 

 special expertise and facility requirements. A fabrication yard becomes 

 the nucleus of many ancillary businesses, such as welding supply shops, 

 marine towing services, marine repair companies and heavy equipment 

 sales. It might also incorporate within its boundaries a' separate 

 operation such as storage tank construction. 



A steel platform fabrication yard usually occupies several hundred 

 acres of cleared, level land adjacent to a navigable waterway that has 

 direct access to the ocean. The typical yard has a great amount of open 

 storage and work area interspersed with various sheds and buildings. The 

 major work space is a jacket fabrication area. The yard may also have a 

 pipe fabrication rack, a pipe-rolling mill, and other supplementary 

 facilities, such as a plate and pipe shop, painting and sandblasting 

 shops, an electrical shop, and warehouses. If the yard also produces 

 the deck units for its platforms, it will have a deck and modular assembly 

 building. A dry dock (graving dock) is also a possibility if very large 

 platforms are to be constructed, 



3.5.2 Site Requirements 



Siting requirements of major concern in planning a platform fabrica- 

 tion yard are the availability of a large level tract of waterfront land, 

 convenient navigational access, and the availability of an abundant supply 

 of fresh water. Other important requirements include adequate roadway 

 access systems, proximity to leased offshore areas, an ample supply of 

 electric power, necessary basic service facilities, and adequate community 

 facilities for the large labor force. 



It is likely that locations for new platform fabrication yards will 

 be sought in relatively rural or undeveloped waterfront areas. Generally, 

 existing major ports and marine shipyard areas cannot readily accommodate 

 new platform fabrication facilities because of their need for large tracts 



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