How are we able to build oil rigs and other infrastructure under the ocean?
In:
There isn’t a lot of actual building that happens underwater. We’re certainly capable of it, but it’s expensive and time-consuming.
Depending on what “other infrastructure” you’re talking about, most of it is built above-ground and sunk, or we build a dam of some sort to keep the water out while we build, then let it back in when we’re done.
Some “oil rigs”, in fact, aren’t even “underwater”. For example, as can be quite amazingly seen in the Mark Wahlberg movie of the same name, the infamous Deepwater Horizon exploration rig is actually a giant boat.
So mostly, we don’t if we can get away with it. When we can’t we try to keep it down to just assembling large pieces to keep the costs down.
When we do build underwater, it’s mostly limited to welding or concrete. Welding actually works better in the absence of oxygen, so most welding techniques already use some form of protective gas to protect the weld. At that point, it’s more about the logistics of finding welders who can dive (or divers who can weld) and getting the resources down to them. Concrete doesn’t “dry” like most would expect, it’s actually cured via a chemical reaction. That chemical reaction is exothermic (gives off heat) so curing concrete underwater where that heat is easily carried off actually creates a stronger structure–although it does slow the cure time down some.
Some links you might like:
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cofferdam
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_platform
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