An Expert Panel Review of Geotechnical Site Investigation Regulations and Current Industry State of Practice
Authors: Aubeny Charles , Dutt Rathindra , Young Alan G. , Murff James D. , Gilbert Robert B , Doyle Earl 
Published: May 2013

The paper describes a joint industry project (JIP) conducted to provide an independent review of the current Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) regulations and the American Petroleum Institute (API) standards (including their historical development). The main objective of the JIP was to make recommendations for improving industry's state-of-practice including revising regulations as needed to reflect the best methods for conducting deepwater geotechnical investigations.

The study provides a careful review of all regulations applicable to an integrated site investigation required for the foundation design of a permanent floating production system. A panel of experts in offshore geotechnical engineering was assembled to obtain their technical guidance for defining the most appropriate work scope for an offshore geotechnical investigation for a permanently moored production system.

The study describes the progress that has been made in site investigation technology (continuous sampling and insitu testing methods) and interpretation of the data since the regulations were initially published. The study also discusses how the current regulations should be interpreted in light of these recent advancements, as applied to the foundation design of suction piles, plate anchors, or driven piles.

The expert panel also recommended revising the regulatory text to ensure that best field practices and sound engineering design principles can be employed when designing foundations to be safe and accomplish their intended purpose. The major benefit of the revised regulatory text is avoiding ambiguity between regulators and practicing geotechnical engineers as to what constitutes best practices for conducting a deepwater integrated site investigation.

Introduction

On December 27, 2001, the Minerals Management Service (MMS) published amended requirements in the Federal Register (30 CFR 250) to address the design of Floating Production Systems (FPSs). The purpose was to incorporate into their regulations a body of industry standards pertaining to FPSs so that system designers would know what is acceptable. Instead of writing their own standards, MMS determined that it would be most efficient and provide the highest level of expertise to the regulatory process if they incorporated the American Petroleum Institute (API) standards.

In recent years, practicing geotechnical engineers working on deepwater offshore projects worldwide have found that establishing the scope of an offshore site investigation is often difficult. The difficulty lies in the ambiguity in the regulations leading to a lack of consensus among regulators, certified verification authorities (CVAs), and practicing geotechnical engineers as to requirements for conducting site investigations for deepwater projects.

Since the new requirements (30 CFR 250) were published over a decade ago, the practice of conducting deepwater site investigations has dramatically improved. Today, high quality, digital geophysical data is routinely acquired very efficiently with an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV). The suite of data such as swath-bathymetry, sub-bottom profiles, and side-scan sonar imagery can be interpreted and mapped to provide a clear 3D picture of the seafloor and subsurface geologic/sediment conditions. More innovative site investigation methods have been developed for obtaining large diameter continuous samples (Jumbo Piston Core - JPC), performing continuous cone penetration test (CPT) soundings and combining these data with the geophysical survey data into an integrated geologic/geotechnical model.