US 12,454,804 B2
Suction pile cofferdam
Scott P. Dingman, Montgomery, TX (US); and Perry Loughridge, Montgomery, TX (US)
Assigned to Delta SubSea LLC, Montgomery, TX (US)
Filed by Delta SubSea LLC, Montgomery, TX (US)
Filed on Sep. 30, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/490,719.
Application 17/490,719 is a continuation in part of application No. 17/191,128, filed on Mar. 3, 2021, granted, now 11,473,263.
Application 17/191,128 is a continuation of application No. 16/719,476, filed on Dec. 18, 2019, granted, now 10,947,692, issued on Mar. 16, 2021.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/880,231, filed on Jul. 30, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0056659 A1, Feb. 24, 2022
Int. Cl. E02D 29/00 (2006.01); E02D 29/09 (2006.01)
CPC E02D 29/06 (2013.01) 22 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A subsea apparatus, comprising:
a cofferdam having multiple sections,
wherein each section includes walls defining an interior, an exterior, an open bottom end, and a closed top end, one or more fluid conduits extending into the interior, and a fluid port configured to allow removal of fluid through the fluid conduit in an open configuration and maintain a negative pressure within the interior in a closed configuration,
wherein each section is configured to be driven into a sea floor by an induced pressure differential between the interior and the exterior when a fluid is removed from the interior, via the one or more fluidic conduits, to generate a vacuum that induces a negative pressure within the interior, wherein the fluid port is closed to maintain the negative pressure within the interior to generate a force on the closed top end of the section that pushes the section into the sea floor.