Patent ID: 8888412

Claim:
A bottom-to-surface connection installation between a plurality of undersea pipes resting on a sea bottom and a floating support at a sea surface and anchored to said sea bottom, the installation comprising: a) said floating support including a turret having a cavity within a structure offset at a front of the floating support or incorporated in or beneath a hull of the floating support, said cavity passing through the hull of the floating support over an entire height of the hull, said turret further including a cylindrical internal portion suitable for remaining substantially stationary relative to the sea bottom inside said cavity when said floating support is caused to turn about a vertical axis of said internal portion or of said cylindrical cavity of the turret, said floating support being anchored to the sea bottom via lines that are fastened at their top ends to said cylindrical internal portion of the turret; and b) a plurality of flexible hoses extending from said turret to the top ends of respective ones of a plurality of rigid pipes to which bottom ends of said flexible hoses are connected, the tops ends of said flexible hoses being connected to the turret, said rigid pipes providing connections between said flexible hoses and respective ones of said plurality of undersea pipes resting on the sea bottom, said rigid pipes being connected to one another and/or guided at least at the tops of said rigid pipes by a carrier structure that is tensioned by buoyancy elements, said carrier structure being connected to a base unit resting on or embedded in the sea bottom; wherein said installation includes a guide structure maintained in the subsurface between said turret and said carrier structure, secured to said carrier structure at the top of said rigid pipes, said guide structure being suitable for guiding said flexible hoses between the top ends of the flexible hoses connected to said cylindrical internal portion of the turret and the bottom ends of the flexible hoses connected to the top ends of said rigid pipes, said guide structure having a plurality of first guide elements having respective ones of said plurality of flexible hoses passing respectively therethrough in such a manner that each said flexible hose has at least a first flexible hose portion in a dipping catenary configuration with a low point of inflection intermediate between the bottom end of said flexible hoses connected to the top end of said rigid pipe and the point of contact between said flexible hose and said first guide element through which said flexible hose passes, and a second flexible hose portion extending entirely above said point of contact of said flexible hose with said first guide element, following a catenary-shaped curve from said guide element through which said second flexible hose passes to said turret to which the top end of the second flexible hose is connected.