Cathie Associates : Geotechnical engineering consultancy services to the oil, gas and energy industries.
OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY - GEOSCIENCES AND FOUNDATION ENGINEERING
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Realise the dream - minimise the risk
Converting wind, wave and tidal energy to electrical power is a dream coming true. Cathie Associates can help realising that dream cost-effectively. We bring the best, appropriate, offshore oil and gas engineering practice to the renewable energy sector. Many years of experience has taught the offshore oil and gas industry to manage risk, mitigate risk, or transfer risk. That is our business - to help our client deal with the geotechnical risks with good engineering.
Good practice starts with a desk study. A key to getting the best from a geophysical and geotechnical survey is to do the homework.
Cathie Associates is independent of any design or construction Contractor, and has the technical and practical capabilities to evaluate foundation concepts and perform FEED or due diligence studies.
Ground conditions can often be variable or unusual and require a tailor-made investigation to collect the data necessary for geotechnical design. Cathie Associates help obtain best value for money by carefully specifying and managing geotechnical and geophysical campaigns.
Laboratory testing of soil and rock samples from a geotechnical investigation is a specialised task. Cathie Associates can specify and manage laboratory testing according to the project requirements. We are used to working with laboratories worldwide.
Soil-structure interaction is often a controlling design consideration. Cathie Associates brings many years of expertise from the mature offshore oil & gas sector to renewable energy projects. Refining the foundation design and using the latest pile capacity methods can result in substantial savings. We provide practical foundation solutions for monopiles, tripods, tower structures, gravity foundations and anchored systems.
In some parts of the world, earthquakes and other geohazards can be important for design. Cathie Associates is experienced in seismic design of offshore structures and assessment of liquefaction potential.
Cathie Associates has unrivalled experience in assessing cable burial feasibility, selecting trenching equipment and investigating alternative protection strategies.
Key project milestones include approval by regulators of methods used to perform site investigation through to foundation design. Cathie Associates has the experience required to provide geotechnical assistance through all approval stages.
Installation risk is very high and all measures must be taken at the engineering and design stages to manage this risk. One of the main risks for the installation is the geotechnical risk. Cathie Associates is there to help manage and mitigate that risk with technical solutions.
Expertise may be brought to bear at review or financing stages of a project, or if variations occur. Early 3rd party expert reviews are very cost effective means of capturing engineering issues that may have been missed, or for reducing costs.