New design guidelines for suction caissons

This document includes the latest understanding and research to provide clarity and guidance for engineers looking to design suction caissons for foundations in offshore wind. It covers critical factors to consider when incorporating these designs and give practical support to enable engineers to manage the design process efficiently and cost-effectively.

The guidelines were written on behalf of the OWA by an expert author team, led by geotechnical consultancy Cathie Associates. The organisation’s senior engineer Jamie Irvine commented: “The guidelines provide the industry with a long sought after methodology that gives greater clarity to designers and developers on the key issues concerning the design of suction caissons.”

Increasing acceptance

Suction installed caissons have seen increased acceptance in the offshore wind industry due to their potential for low-noise and quick installation, and suitability to certain challenging soil conditions, which enables them to compete on a commercial basis with traditional monopile and jacket designs.

The OWA has been instrumental in the commercialisation of suction installed caissons with Universal Foundation’s Monobucket and SPT Offshore’s Suction Bucket Jacket.

Subsequent OWA projects demonstrated their viability and application offshore, as suitable foundations for met masts and a full-scale turbine. Now, suction installed caissons can be seen supporting the latest generation of 8MW turbines at Vattenfall’s European Offshore Deployment Centre in Scotland and Ørsted’s Borkum Riffgrund 2 in Germany.

By Rebecca Jeffrey