AU622835B2

AU622835B2 - Marine pile

Info

Publication number: AU622835B2
Application number: AU64744/90A
Authority: AU
Inventors: John Richard Bugh; Earl Erling
Original assignee: IND PIPE SYSTEMS Pty Ltd
Current assignee: INDUSTRIAL PIPE SYSTEMS Pty Ltd
Priority date: 1989-10-27
Filing date: 1990-10-18
Publication date: 1992-04-16
Anticipated expiration: 2010-10-18
Also published as: AU6474490A

Description

Fee: $70.00 3 01H008 271089 O l0 21'9 I i a j i COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA 6 f A PATENTS ACT 1952 COMPLET E S P IF I CAT ION FOR OFFICE USE: Class Int.Class Application Number: Lodged: Complete Specification Lodged: Accepted: Published: priority: Related Art: 6 9 4 SName of Applicant: INDUSTRIAL PIPE SYSTEMS PTY LIMITED Address of Applicant: 186-190 Kingsgrove Road, Kingsgrove, New South Wales 2208, Australia.

Actual Inventor: Earl Erling and John Richard Bugh c Address for Service: SHELSTON WATERS, 55 Clarence Street, Sydney Complete Specification for the Invention entitled: "MARINE PILE" SThe following statement is a fu-_ description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us:- (Complete of PJ7113 dated 27th October, 1989) 1 S 017922 I18109 ^i

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i- I LIYL- W-.i ii 111111 I 10 0000 0 000 00 00.0 0Goo oooo a 0 ooa o000 ooo 0 00 00oo00 a o o a o a «e 0000 6 This invention relates to marine piles of the kind used to support or anchor structures in water. A typical marine jetty employs a platform supported upon floating buoyancy tanks which are moored to piles by means which permit the pontoons to rise or fall with the tide.

A problem with marine piles constructed from hardwood is that the piles suffer attack from sea worms on the submerged hardwood surface especially near the water level and also suffer from attack by borers adjacent the mud level. One solution to this problem has been to encase the wooden pile in concrete. The process of encasing piles in concrete is expensive and results in a pile cost typically in excess of $3,000 per pile. Moreovez, as the concrete is quite brittle, it may be cracked, for example in collision with a vessel, and can completely break away in parts, exposing the pile to attack.

It has also been practiced to protect hardwood piles by chemically impregnating the wood with an arsenic compound. A high pressure treatment is required to obtain impregnation. The process is expensive to conduct and as penetration is not deep, scratches, nail holes or the like expose the timber to attack by marine organisms.

To date, no more cost effective method than the above has been found for protecting marine piles against worm or borer attack.

Boats are also directly moored to pile buoys offshore. The boats have either a swing mooring in which the boat is attached at one point only, or attached at 2 each end to prevent the swinging action. However, as tides in many areas can exceed 2 metres the mooring rope or chain must be long enough to permit rise and fall with the tide. When a 2 metre mooring rope is provided it is possible for the boat to swing 3560 around the pile therefore requiring a geat deal of space for mooring, or possibly causing damage to itself or other vessels.

Furthermore at low tide the chain tends to drag along the bottom, disturbing and removing the seaweed and associated sea life.

It is an object of the press. invention to ameliorate one or more of the problems of the prior art.

According to one aspect, the present invention consists in a marine pile in combination with a buoyant 15 mooring sleeve, said mooring sleeve comprising an inner tubular surface adapted to surround and slide along a longitudinal axis of said pile and an outer surface substantially surrounding said &tner surface, said o. o" surfaces being sealingly joined to form an air space therebetween.

Preferably the polyethylene pile sleeve is a cylindrical extruded pipe which extends to the upper end of the pile and the pile is sealed within the sleeve at its upper end by means of a welded polyethylene cap or a mechanically attached cap.

Preferably the inner and outer surfaces of the buoyant mooring sleeve are co-axial cylinders and are made i from Nylon II (Polyamide II), which are joined at their

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1 1--L1Yllli 1 ends by adhesive.

According to a second aspect, the invention consists in a method of mooring a boat to a marine pile in combination with a buoyant mooring sleeve according to any one of the preceding claims, said method comprising the steps of securing the boat with and closely adjacent with said buoyant sleeve, said mooring sleeve sliding along said longitudinal axis of said pile with fluctuations in water depth, maintaining said boat within a constant short distance from said pile.

A further aspect of the invention provides a bracket o. for connecting a pontoon to pile, the bracket being made of galvanised steel and including a plurality of plastic "rollers and adjustment means to move said rollers with 15 respect to said pile to correct for wear.

gio: The invention will now be more particularly described .by way of example only with reference to the accompanying o drawings, wherein: S* Figure 1 is a first embodiment of a pile according to 20 the invention;

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Figure 2 shows a second embodiment of a pile according to the invention; Figure 3 shows a bracket for use in connection of a pontoon to a pile according to the invention.

Figure 4 shows one embodiment of a mooring sleeve according to the invention; Figure 5 shows the mooring sleeve of Figure 4 in use 44 VNT O'0 on a pile; and Figure 6 shows a mooring distribution using the mooring sleeve and pile of the present invention.

With reference to Figure i, a pontoon 1 is anchored to one or more piles 20. Pile 20 is a turned hardwood column or pole 24 driven into the sea floor and encased in a sleeve 22 made from black polyethylene and having an end cap 23 welded at its upper extremity. Sleeve 22 has a 6 mm clearance about the pole and extends from end cap 23 to below the silt level 25 and is effective to protect the ct timber from attack both by seaworm and borer. The r °polyethylene is preferably 6mm to 8mm in thickness and, j surprisingly, is sufficiently resilient so that when cc bumped it does not fracture or break away. It is believed that the thin air gap sealed between the polyethylene and the pole provides an air cushion which assists in maintaining integrity. Black polyethylene has been found

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to be very UV resistent as well as resistent to attack by salt water or marine organisms.

C A marine pile according to the invention is installed by pile driving pole 24 through the seabed silt into the S underlying sea floor which may be of shale or other stone S or in some cases may be compacted mud.

The pole is preferably machined to provide a substantially cylindrical shape, for example to a tolerance similar to a hardwood telegraph pole.

Once the pile has been driven and is firmly anchored in the hard shale, clay or rock sea floor, the distance from the top to the hard sea floor is measured or calculated.

The outer sleeve with the welded end cap is then cut to length to ensure that it will be longer to ensure that it enters the hard sea floor below the silt bed.

The outer sleeve is then gently driven or pressed over the timber pile. During this process the air is driven out at the sea bed level. The pressure is no greater than the head of water. To release excessive pressure a small hole may be drilled to allow air to .C Vescape and then plugged.

Sleeve 22 is then fitted over pole 24 so that the C cc lower sleeve end is preferably adjacent the sea floor and in any case is below the silt level.

A second embodiment of a pile according to the invention is shown in Figure 2, in which parts of the cCrC second embodiment which correspond to parts shown in the

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first embodiment are identified with like numerals. The pile of Figure 2 also comprises a turned hardwood pole 24 C C C which is encased in a polyethylene sleeve 22. However, the sleeve is capped with an airtight sealed end. It is sufficient to extend sleeve 22 to just below the silt level as hardwood does not readily deteriorate in the ground and borer does not attack at below the silt level.

With reference to Figure 3, there is shown a bracket for use in connecting a pontoon or the like to pile 20 i or 21. Preferably, bracket 30 is made of galvanized steel with plastics rollers 31 allowing vertical motion of the -6- I i I i- pontoon with respect to a pile 20. Bolts 32 extending through slots in a bridge piece 45 permit arms 33 to be moved towards or away from each other, thus conveniently providing adjustment for wear, if any, either in the rollers or the pile.

The combination of a bracket in Figure 3 together with a pile according to the invention provides a convenient, relatively inexpensive, and long-lasting anchorage means.

0 A mooring sleeve 35 is shown in Figure 4 and is comprised of two co-axial cylinders 36 and 37 which are CC joined at their ends 38 and 39, with a suitable adhesive, 'CCC to form an air space within. The mooring sleeve 35 is made from Nylon II (Polyamide II) which has excellent UV resistance and a desirable degree of toughness and flexibility.

cc The mooring sleeve 35 is shown in Figure 5 slidably mounted on a pile 20. As both the pile 20 and mooring sleeve 35 are made of plastics little friction exists and 0 the buoyant mooring sleeve 35 readily slides along the vertical axis of the pile 20 with the tide.

C A boat 40 can be attached to the mooring sleeve 35 by conventional means and thus moored at the pile 20 on a relatively short chain or rope 41.

Figure 6 shows a variety of mooring configurations using the pile and buoyant mooring sleeve 35 of the n present invention allowing a denser distribution due to the fact that at any one time the boat is kept relatively 7 I-I7 close to the mooring pile.

The length of the mooring sleeve can be adjusted to suit the height of the boat and provide proper floatation height.

It will be understood that references to the sea and the seabed are intended to extend to include lakes, rivers, harbours and the like and to their respective floors.

As will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the teaching hereof, the invention may be embodied in other forms without departing from the inventive concept herein disclosed.

For example whereas the mooring sleeve has been described as two co-axial cylinders, the outer cylinder can be of any suitable shape and the inner cylinder need only be a shape which is slidable on the pile.

Furthermore, the protective sleeve for the pile can be made from any suitable plastics material.

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Claims

2. A combination according to claim 1 wherein said inner and outer surfaces of said mooring sleeve are defined by coaxial cylinders.
3. A combination according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein said inner and outer surfaces of said mooring sleeve are made from plastics material.
4. A combination according to claim 3 wherein said plastics material is polyamide II.
5. A combination according to any one of the preceding claims wherein said inner and outer surfaces of said mooring sleeve are sealingly joined at their respective ends by adhesive.
6. A combination according to any one of the preceding claims wherein said marine pile comprises a substantially cylindrical hardwood timber pole having one end driven in a sea bed and having a polyethylene pile sleeve.
7. A combination according to claim 6 wherein said polyethylene pile sleeve covers the exterior surface of the pile from above the sea level to below the level of silt on the sea bed.
8. A combination according to claim 7 wherein said pile C, CCr ii: 9 sleeve is a cylindrical extruded pipe.
9. A combination according to claim 7 or claim 8 wherein said pile sleeve extends to the upper end of the pile and the pile is sealed within the pile sleeve. A combination according to any one of claims 6 to 9 wherein said marine pile further comprises a polyethylene cap.
11. A combination according to claim 10 wherein said cap is sealed to said pile sleeve prior to fitting on said pile such that as the sleeve is driven over said pile, water is driven out by air pressure in the pile sleeve.
12. A method of mooring a boat to a marine pile in combination with a buoyant mooring sleeve according to any one of the preceding claims, said method comprising the steps of .:.securing the boat with and closely adjacent with said buoyant :o 5 sleeve, said mooring sleeve sliding along said longitudinal axis of said pile with fluctuations in water depth, O o s "maintaining said boat within a constant short distance from S" said pile.
13. A marine pile in combination with a buoyant mooring sleeve substantially as herein described with reference to 9oo figures 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 of the accompanying drawings. DATED this 5th Day of FEBRUARY, 1992 INDUSTRIAL PIPE SYSTEMS PTY LIMITED Attorney: LEON K. ALLEN Fellow Institute of Patent Attorneys of Australia of SHELSTON WATERS 10