The largest object ever moved by humans on the surface of the Earth

The Troll A natural gas rig located off the west coast of Norway with a pulling capacity of up to 1.2 million tons, a height of 472 m and a specific gravity of 650,000 tons, is one of the largest engineering projects and The most complex in human history.

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This is one of the most massive structures in human history, and is also the largest object ever moved by humans on the surface of the Earth.

Normally, the platform legs will be transported separately by a floating device on the sea surface. Then, everything will be reassembled upon arrival.

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But with Troll A, the entire rig is installed in the village of Vats in the Rogaland region, Norway. It was then towed over a distance of more than 200km to land it in an area of ​​sea about 80km northwest of the city of Bergen in 1996. The towing process took place over 7 days.

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The distance from the rig surface to the sea surface is 303m. The elevator is installed inside a giant cylinder. According to estimates, it takes more than 9 minutes to move from the rig to the bottom. The elevator is protected by a reinforced concrete wall more than 1 meter thick.

Troll A was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest offshore gas rig on the planet in 1996. That title currently belongs to the Petronius rig in the Gulf of Mexico located 610m above the ocean floor.

At the time of construction in September 1991, Troll A was estimated to cost approximately 650 million USD.

Jessica Tanner

Update 13 May 2024