Geohazard identification: the gap between the possible and reality in geophysical surveys for the engineering industry

Abstract

Offshore Contractors engaged in the business of installing pipelines and subsea structures routinely rely on third party survey data to identify and assess the risk of surface and buried geohazards. In many cases, route or site survey data are supplied to a marine Contractor with the latter having little or no input to the manner in which the geophysical and geotechnical data are acquired, processed and reported. Often, the completed survey reports indicate that neither data acquisition nor the subsequent data processing were carried out with the ultimate goal of the survey or the end user in mind. This lack of focus at the survey stage can contribute to incorrect or over-optimistic assessments of geohazard risk, with serious impact on offshore installation operations as a consequence. Two case studies from the North Sea are discussed where inappropriate data processing and reporting of geophysical data had a negative impact on offshore installation operations; these are used as a basis for a more general discussion of the underlying reasons for the production of engineering survey reports which are “not-fit-for-purpose”.