As commonly-used structures to support exploration and production of hydrocarbons in Arctic shallow water areas, artificial islands are often subject to combined wave and ice actions. Rock berms have a proven record of effective shore protection against wave action but their use in ice-infested waters is limited. In order to investigate shore protection abilities of rock berms against ice actions, two sets of ice model testing of the Northstar Island protected by berms were performed at two different testing facilities. Two models were constructed at geometric scale factors of 42 and 50. Each model consisted of lumber, plywood, fabrics, and rocks. Although testing of offshore structures has been routinely performed in ice model basins, constructing and testing artificial islands with rock berms present some unique challenges compared to monolithic structures. One key difference is the local failure mode of rock berms. Accurate modeling of rock sliding and turning behaviors necessitates scaling the rock size accurately. As a result, the total weight of the constructed model is unusually large and difficult to handle. In addition, movement of rocks within the model and potentially into the basin creates difficulties. In this paper, the recommended practices of testing artificial islands protected by rock berms in ice model basins are presented.
Artificial gravel islands are often used to support exploration and production of hydrocarbons in Arctic shallow water areas. In the Canadian Beaufort Sea, more than thirty artificial islands have been built to support petroleum exploration activities (Timco, 1998). Leidersdorf et al (2008) chronicled the development of nineteen artificial islands in the Alaskan Beaufort Sea. Of all these constructed islands, only three artificial gravel islands have been built to support long-term production activities (Munday and Bricker, 1988; Gadd et al, 2001; Owen et al, 2001; Lucas et al, 2008).