Technical Issues and Necessary Design Adaptations During Construction of Concrete Plugs for Hydrocarbon Underground Storages: Presentation of Four Cases of Design Changes Implemented During Construction

摘要

The three first cases presented here have been successfully implemented on site, and the last case is currently under execution. These examples highlight how flexible the plug's design shall be in order to allow its adaptation along with the works. Some of the encountered situations are already taken into account by designers, such as the anticipation by geological investigation of sensitive areas and the risk of generalized overbreak at plug's periphery. Others remain more challenging to anticipate, especially when arising from divergent imperatives of the actors involved in the projects, such as the costs saving (and consequent lowering of the works quality) or the management of tight time schedules (and the associated changes in execution methods).