Structure carrying an oil pipeline across the Danube

Abstract

Near Vienna, a structure has been completed to carry across the Danube the pipeline providing fuel to various industrial districts of the country. During the design stage of the project various alternative solutions were considered, and the cue chosen, as being apparently the best, consisted of the pipeline itself suspended by a system of suitably stabilized cables. The method proved highly successful, as any incipient vibration is rapidly damped by the system of cables. The structure consists of three spans: two 93 ms length at each end, and a central one of 320 ms. The pipeline is suspended from two main cables of 62 mm diameter, which run over two towers, with V arms at the top. The towers are situated on each shore of the river. A further pair of cables, suspended at a lower height, serve to stabilize the pipeline. The four cables, acting jointly, at given relative tensions, provide the structure considerable stiffness. The pipeline itself is 42 cms in diameter, and is suspended by means of hangers attached to rollers, on which the pipeline itself rests. A catwalk has been fitted over the pipeline. The structure is such that it behaves as if it consisted of individually stiff elements.