ABSTRACT
The early small offshore steel installations were generally protected using a handful of the magnesium anodes, of the type in common use for onshore pipelines. These were simply lobbed off the deck and suspended from the structure by their connecting cables. The main counterargument to coatings was the cost of their application and, in particular, the cost of the necessary surface preparation of the steel. More importantly, the impact that the extra staging, grit blasting, paint application and inspection would have on the construction schedule was usually regarded as an insurmountable obstacle. From the nineteenth century onwards, driven steel sheet piling started to replace stonework, or even wood, as the material of choice for the construction of the harbour wharfs. The need to handle the deeper draft vessels brought with it the need to extend jetties into the deeper water.
