Marine structure

Claim 1

A SUPPORT STRUCTURE FOR AN OFFSHORE PLATFORM WHEREIN SAID STRUCTURE IS DESIGNED TO BE FLOATED HORIZONTALLY ON THE SURFACE OF A BODY OF WATER AND THEN ROTATED IN SAID WATER TO A VERTICAL POSITION BY FLOODING THE LOWER PORTION OF SAID STRUCTURE AND THEN SET VERTICALLY ON THE UNDERWATER BOTTOM, COMPRISING A SUPPORT STRUCTURE HAVING A PLURALITY OF COLUMNAR SUPPORT MEMBERS AFFIXED TOGETHER IN COMPLEMENTARY SPACED RELATIONSHIP BY CROSS BRACING AND DISPOSED IN A SUBSTANTIALLY SYMMETRICAL PATTERN ABOUT THE GEOMETRIC LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF SAID STRUCTURE, ADJACENT ONES OF SOME OF SAID MEMBERS HAVING LESS WEIGHT THAN THE REMAINDER OF SAID MEMBERS TO THEREBY DISPLACE THE CENTE OF GRAVITY OF SAID STRUCTURE SUBSTANTIALLY CLOSER TO ONE SIDE THEREOF THAN THE DISTANCE FROM SAID ONE SIDE OF SAID GEOMETRIC AXIS, CONTROLLABLY BUOYANT SECTIONS WITHIN AND ALONG THE LENGTH OF SAID REMAINDER OF SAID MEMBERS, SAID ADJACENT ONES OF SAID MEMBERS HAVING A RESPECTIVE UPPER COLUMN PORTION AND A LOWER COLUMN PORTION, THE LENGTH OF SAID LOWER PORTION BEING SUBSTANTIALLY LESS THAN THE OVERALL LENGTH OF A SAID MEMBER, THE SAID UPPER PORTION OF SAID ADJACENT ONES OF SAID MEMBERS BEING BUOYANT AND HAVING LESS BUOYANCY IN THE WATER THAN THE BUOYANCY OF THE CORRESPONDING UPPER PORTION OF A RESPECTIVE SAID REMAINDER OF SAID MEMBERS, THE SAID LOWER PORTION OF SAID ADJACENT ONES OF SAID MEMBERS BEING CONTROLLABLY BUOYANT PONTOON COLUMN SECTIONS OF GREATER BUOYANCY IN THE WATER THAN THE COMPLEMENTARY SAID UPPER PORTION THEREOF, AND MEANS FOR CONTROLLING SELECTIVELY AND IN COMBINATION THE BUOYANCY OF SAID CONTROLLABLY BUOYANT SECTIONS.