A trestle system is made to support fluid material conveyors in the air above the earthen overburden covering permanently frozen earth that is generally referred to as permafrost. The system comprises aligned trestles each embodying two limbs crossing each other at a point spaced well above the overburden surface, the limbs having their lower end portions embedded in the frozen earth and having portions above their crossing point connected by a tie beam upon which the conveyor is carried. The limbs extend outwardly and downwardly from their point of crossing at substantially right angles to each other and to the longitudinal axis of the conveyor. Each limb comprises a horizontal footplate embedded in the frozen earth, a steel lower portion secured to the footplate and extending up through and above the overburden, a mid portion of wood, or equivalent nonconductor of heat, overlapped with and affixed to the lower portion and a steel upper portion overlapped with and affixed to the mid portion, the steel upper portion being affixed to the tie beam and to the other limb of the trestle. Certain of the trestles embody braces to oppose leaning of the trestle lengthwise of the supported conveyor. These braces are each made up of a footplate embedded in the frozen earth and spaced endwise of the conveyor from the crossed limbs, steel lower brace portion affixed to the footplate and extending upwardly and toward the trestle, mid-limb portions of wood or equivalent heat insulating material overlapped with and affixed to the steel lower brace portion and a steel cable connecting the upper end of the mid limb portion to the crossed limbs.
A pipe supporting apparatus including a pipe supporting portion securable within a trench beneath a length of pipe for support thereof before filling the trench around the length of pipe with backfill material.
A support assembly primarily designed to support clothes lines in an attended fashion and generally between the primary or permanent supports located at opposite ends of the clothes lines. A line engaging support bar includes a plurality of line attachment means which supportingly engage each of a plurality of parallel arranged lines wherein the support bar is disposed in a supported fashion by two support elements pivotally interconnected to one another wherein each of the elements are structured to have the longitudinal dimension variable which in turn allows variance of the height of the support assembly and accordingly the amount of support offered to the plurality of clothes lines and causing an adjustable variance in the space between the clothes lines and the ground or other surface.
A method for installing a pipeline for transporting a warm fluid, such as newly-produced oil, across arctic seafloor underlain by a permafrost zone without danger of rupture of the pipeline caused by thawing in the supporting permafrost zone comprises (1) drilling a series of boreholes along the seafloor through a thawed zone of subsea soil so as to penetrate a distance into a zone of permafrost lying thereunder, (2) circulating a warm fluid through each borehole so as to cause a zone of prethawing in the permafrost zone and thereby create a slump trough on the surface of the seafloor along a path marked by the series of boreholes; and (3) installing a warm fluid bearing pipeline along the bottom of the slump trough. Usually a temperature differential between the warm fluid and the bottom of the borehole of at least 2 degrees Fahrenheit is required to assure economical prethawing of the permafrost zone.
A highly tensioned, suspended pipeline (HTSP) which is especially useful in permafrost regions, rugged terrain, and active seismic fault areas. Basically, the pipeline is comprised of segments which are fluidly connected together to form the desired length of the line. Each segment is comprised of a length of tensioned pipeline which extends between two fixed anchors and which is suspended over a plurality of vertical support towers therebetween. The length of pipeline is greater than the distance between the anchors to allow the pipeline to sag significantly between adjacent vertical supports whereby there is no need for expansion loops in the line.
A plant trimming apparatus comprises a cutting device operated in conjunction with a support apparatus. The cutting device includes an elongated handle member attached to a cutter, the cutter being preferably an electrical chain saw or tree trimmer. A power cord for the electric cutter is carried through a hollow portion of the handle to an electrical outlet or generator which provides power. The handle is preferably a hollow PVC tube. The handle is supported by a fulcrum apparatus which provides leverage for manipulating the cutter. The fulcrum apparatus comprises a pair of hollow tubes hingedly connected together to provide a V-shaped fulcrum point in which the handle rests. A third leg of pipe is hingedly connected to one of the legs, further down from the fulcrum point, to act as a third leg of a tripod. The third leg can be raised and held in the operator's hand for moving the fulcrum point fore and aft during the cutting operation. The blade of the cutter is mounted so that it forms an angle with the longitudinal axis of the handle, to allow different angles to be obtained in the cutting process by the user rotating the handle. In addition, the materials used provide little friction to allow the handle to slide easily in the V-shaped fulcrum.
