In May 2001, Kiewit Offshore Services, Ltd., a subsidiary of Kiewit Corporation, began constructing Samedan Mari-B, a gas production platform that first supplied natural gas to industries and power plants in Israel. This $59 million, 18-month project involved fabrication and commissioning of a 15,000-ton jacket and 5,000-ton topsides located at a water depth of 800 ft.
Crews constructed a brace cutting facility to cut and stab together hundreds of tubular members required in the jacket's design. The jacket was fabricated on its side using a series of panel roll-up and tie-in operations. Tubular legs and braces with walls up to 3½-in.-thick were fabricated at an on-site rack facility and shipped to the field before assembly into row and elevation panel components. Six roll-up operations using 500- to 600-ton cranes lifting 1,600 to 3,100 tons were required to assemble the Mari-B jacket. The jacket required approximately 400 tons of steel to tie into the barge before transporting.
In early November 2002, Kiewit Offshore loaded the jacket onto the world's largest barge (950-ft. long by 250-ft. wide) prior to transport 15 mi. off the southern coast of Israel in the Mediterranean Sea. Once in position, a series of leg chambers were flooded in sequence to lower the jacket before being attached to the sea floor.