摘要 |
A welding apparatus, for welding pipe sections (1, 2) together to form an underwater pipeline, is arranged to weld pipe sections (1, 2) together when they are in a generally upright orientation with the bottom of an upper pipe section (2) abutting the top of a lower pipe section (1) that defines the end of a pipeline. The welding apparatus includes a rotary equipment holder (5) mounted for rotation about a generally vertical axis (8) and having a central opening (5A) through which pipe sections (1, 2) are able to pass as a pipeline is laid, a plurality of welding heads (12) angularly spaced about the rotary equipment holder (5), each head (12) being associated with a respective sector of the rotary equipment holder, and a welding head guide assembly (11) for fixing around a pipe section (1). The guide assembly (11) includes a guide track (1 4) for guiding movement of each of the welding heads (12) around the pipe section (1). The respective sector of the rotary equipment holder (5) is able to revolve around the pipe section (1) as the associated welding head (12) resolves around the pipe section (1).
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