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MMS funds hurricane research studies to better understand these natural events and to protect our nation’s energy supply against the devastating effects that they cause.  In the late 1970s the MMS formed the research program, now called the Technology and Assessment Research Program, or TAR program, to research areas of interest in hurricanes and other problems that we have on the offshore.  The early study that we started with hurricanes involved the study of ocean currents and how they impact the offshore structures and operations.  Since then we’ve funded a total of 600, or nearly 600 research studies through the TAR program, 32 of which have focused on hurricane events.

Well Hurricane Andrew had a huge impact on the offshore infrastructure.  It caused a great deal of damage that we just hadn’t seen to that extent before. And as a result, MMS provided funding for 14 research projects on Hurricane Andrew to better understand that event.  And each year since, we have continued to fund major category 4 or greater research studies to provide a better collective information of all these events and then to use that information to improve our standards, our regulations, and work with industry to find better ways to protect their structures and pipelines against these devastating events.

One of the biggest findings that we’ve had from our studies is the minimum deck requirement for platforms.  Hurricane Andrew had a big impact on a number of damage to platforms, and following that event we have installed new platforms with higher decks to withstand the high waves that you encounter during hurricanes.  Another information that we’ve gained from our findings is the need for burying pipelines in shallow water areas.  Pipelines that sit on the bottom of the sea floor have a tendency to move from ocean currents and waves.  By burying these pipelines, they are better protected from the effects.  Another area is pipeline riser design and spacing, that when we put clamps on these risers we need to hold them firmly to the platform structure so that they don’t move and therefore damage.

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Last Updated: 08/18/2007, 10:30 AM Central Time