Chapter 8 – Inner Space Pioneer: Taylor Diving & Salvage

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses underwater or deep sea diving as an integral aspect of offshore oil industry. Underwater diving was an integral but often under-appreciated aspect of the offshore oil industry. The success of offshore operations depended on the assistance of divers. The expansion of the offshore industry, in turn, spurred the growth of diving as a commercial endeavor. Taylor Diving established a close bond with Brown & Root beginning in 1960. Divers progressed from trouble-shooters in shallow water to highly skilled, underwater technicians engaged in complicated and dangerous tasks at significant depths. Early offshore diving involved brief dives to inspect, salvage or repair structures. As the industry moved into deeper waters, new technologies allowed divers to facilitate deeper offshore operations. Underwater pipelining, in particular, required divers regularly. The impressive technological advances made by Taylor Diving were also made possible by the daring and talent of its divers, who had to become experts not only in the physics and physiology of diving, but in the art of welding and construction. As the industry moved into deeper waters, new technologies allowed divers to facilitate deeper offshore operations. Underwater pipelining, in particular, required divers regularly. Taylor's innovations in helium-oxygen and saturation diving at its Belle Chasse, Louisiana research facility resulted in depth records for divers in the 1960s and 1970s. Taylor's development of hyperbaric welding and underwater pipe-alignment techniques were essential to Brown & Root's pipelaying operations. The marriage of saturation diving and hyperbaric welding by Taylor Diving opened a new era for diving in the offshore industry and fueled the company's expansion. During the 1970s, Taylor set a series of diving and deepwater welding records. As Brown & Root's partner, Taylor played a crucial part in developing the great offshore fields of the North Sea.