Patent ID: 7651137

Claim:
A primarily underwater pipeline comprising multiple steel pipe sections connected in tandem, which includes first and second steel pipe sections with adjacent front ends that have male and female pipe ends with mating grooves that are connected in a pipe joint wherein: said first steel pipe section has an extreme front end and has a first gripping surface extending rearward by a plurality of centimeters from a rear end of a groove of said male end, and said first steel pipe section has a first initial covering that lies tightly against an outer surface of said first steel pipe section and that extends from a location rearward of its gripping surface and along a majority of the length of the first steel pipe section; said second steel pipe section has an extreme front end and has a second gripping surface extending a plurality of centimeters rearward of its extreme front end, and has a second initial covering that lies tightly against an outer surface of said first steel pipe section and that extends from a location rearward of said second gripping surface and along a majority of the length of said second pipe section; a continuous completion covering extending around said pipe joint from a front portion of said first initial covering to a front portion of said second initial covering.