I'm not seeing the valve things on end of pipe?

Look here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02qzEHzR6wI

Oh, you mean this thing.

http://cellar.org/2014/pipelayer.jpg
That is strange. First I thought maybe it's a cap they can grapple up to continue the line later. The 5 valves could to be for letting the air out, or something under pressure to blow the line out.

Now the end where the cable is attached looks like it's for pulling, but it's on the butt end so it can't be. Must be for keeping tension on the pipe while it's lowered, but why are they lowering the end in the middle of nowhere?

Oh, you may know. Does one company lay the line out to where they plan a platform, them another company comes along and ties it into the system when they're ready?

The video referred to it as a startup head. One reference I found referred to a laydown head as a:

"Piece of pipe with a wire attachment, welded on to the end of a pipe string to facilitate later retrieval. The laydown head at the start of pipelaying [sic] is called an initiation head, and may be provided with valves and pigs for dewatering of the line."

Other references I found said it could also be used for cleaning the pipeline (introducing and removing solutions I believe) and pressure testing with some instrumentation actually inside the startup head pipes. It's accessible by ROV for those procedures.

Maybe startup head was a misnomer in the video since it seemed to be only at the end of the pipe laying process; or, perhaps it's commonly called that in practice at either end.

Bingo! Sexobon nails it.

http://cellar.org/2014/laydown head.jpg

So I was on the right track with the pipeline being laid to about where the wellhead or floating pumping station will be, then lays capped on the bottom till they need it.

Still don't know how the Laydown head works with the PLEM (pipeline end manifold). I suspect they attach to each other and work in conjunction, but I may be way off on that.

buster - that must have been one hell of a job. how many years did you do it??

Sounds about right to me. Tnxs.

Sarge. I did this work from right after the storm in 1965 until early 80s, If IRRC. But I still worked offshore until later 80s

I have some stories about de-watering the line Well I was going to use this in another story, but, once the welder boss told me me to take a poly-pig down to galley and tell them to put in freezer. It had been wrapped in sheet metal and strapped with banding. For de-watering after a lay down for rough weather.
Well I'd been around enough to smell BS. Go get someone else, I'm not pissing off the cooks. but it was true. To shrink so would fit in pipe.
Hey the oil field runs on rumors,lies, and bullshit.
In summer all the kids of the wheel's get a job. Do you see anything wrong with sending them after a roll of slack, concrete welding rods?

When you're in a profession that has a lot of specialized tools with strange, even sometimes nonsensical names, there's bound to be newbie abuse. :blush:

we had a lot of fun in the army with that, too. Ok, Buster lets hear some more about your work. I have never met anyone who has come close to doing the things you did

He's seen some things, man.

And some stuff.

I wouldn't recommend it.

I'm alive. Puter down, trying to use tablet.
Upper GI good, liver test tomorrow and lower GI on 2nd July
BB

Hooray for alive!

...and posting. :thumb2: