Traditional Approaches To Solving Marine Growth Problems

By far the most economical approach is to prevent biofouling. Shipbuilders found that using copper sheathing not only prevented marine borers in their

wooden hulls, but also kept barnacles and other marine life from attaching. Copper-hull sheathing was used on the winners of the America”s Cup races for many years, including the renowned Cutty Sark.

Traditionally, in the petroleum industry, platform designers have taken two approaches to combat the severe problem. First, some have used much thicker metal and driven pilings deeper into the ocean floor. They design as if the buildup on platform members and conductors would present a solid wall to wave action. This approach is very expensive, and on deeper platforms can cause a weight problem that makes transportation and installation difficult. A second approach is to plan for periodic removal of the marine growth, and to design and budget accordingly. Waterblasting biofoulants from 48 conductors off California costs about $75,ooo per occurrence. And, the growth comes back twice as fast as it originally formed, so subsequent removals must be more frequent.