Big Bubble Curtain Hose

Overview
Applications
Advantages

Contact

Contact

Big Bubble Curtain Hose

Offshore construction work, such as the anchoring of foundations for wind turbines, creates an enormous amount of underwater noise. Sound intensity can reach 180 dB at source during pile driving – equivalent of a rocket launch. Therefore, in order to protect noise-sensitive porpoises and other marine creatures, noise mitigation regulations are in effect in many countries. A maximum noise level of 160 dB applies in German waters at a distance of 750 meters from any construction site.

Big bubble curtains are used to comply with these regulations. This involves a perforated hose laid around the construction site that creates a curtain of air bubbles generated by compressed air. As a result, the density of the water is changed, sound waves are broken up and construction noise is therefore reduced. To ensure that the structure stays on the sea floor without any additional weights or steel chains, we have now developed an innovative system that protects nature and makes installation work easier.

Applications

Noise mitigation during offshore wind turbine foundation installation
Noise mitigation during general marine construction, e.g. underwater pile driving at bridge or tunnel constructions
Turbidiy/silt curtain for dredging ports, lakes and rivers, artificial islands
Contamination barrier for fish farms
Plastic cleanup for rivers and beaches
Oil spill containment
Mine clearance

Advantages

Our innovative solution works without any additional anchoring to the sea floor and therefore leaves no trace. The hose is heavy enough to remain on the seabed when filled with air.
Its one-piece design guarantees hassle-free deployment & retrieval and saves time
Customized for maximized bubbling: the tailor-made perforation pattern is custom designed to suit your specific compressor flowrates, water depth and length requirements
Compliant with US Department of Commerce NOAA’s (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) noise mitigation regulations for impact pipe driving of steel pipes
Our technology is reusable

A Heavyweight for Easy Handling

Previously, installation companies fitted the hoses with additional weights to anchor them to the sea floor or positioned them on piping systems.

However, these structures create complications when the bubble curtain is to be transported back to the surface of the water following completion of the work or when it is to be installed on the sea floor. What makes Continental’s development special is that an additional wire is wrapped around the hose. The result is a real heavyweight that lends the hose the right degree of balance at the required depth and without the need for compressed air to keep it buoyant.

“As with all construction projects, it’s all about doing the work as quickly and with as little effort as possible. That’s why we have developed a solution involving a hose that is flexible and that works without any complicated anchoring using additional weights, such as steel chains,” explains David Hoffmann, who is responsible for industrial hose solutions in the EMEA and APAC regions at the Continental Corporation. “We are therefore facilitating handling for installation companies. At the same time, we are contributing to the expansion of regenerative energy sources, thereby protecting marine life from construction noise,” adds Hoffmann.

Note: An increase in sound level of 6 dB is perceived as a doubling of the volume. Likewise, a measure that reduces the volume by 6 decibels halves the perceived noise, which is why a noise reduction of 18 dB can be quantified as a 95% decrease.