Temporary support for offshore drilling platform

摘要

A support device is used to facilitate maintenance of a jacking system of a self-elevating drilling or maintenance platform having a plurality of legs supporting the platform in an operating orientation. The platform includes jacking mechanisms associated with the legs to raise and lower the platform using jacking racks on each leg chord. Support devices temporarily support the platform independent of the jacking mechanisms using a rack chock removably clamped in place on each leg with locking teeth on the rack chock meshed with jacking teeth on the leg's jacking rack. In this manner the platform can be temporarily supported by using removable fasteners to secure a rack chock to each leg chord beneath the platform hull, lowering the platform relative to the legs so that the hull rests on a support seat on each support device, and then disengaging the jacking mechanism from the jacking teeth on the legs for maintenance of the jacking system.