Underwater Construction Tools

MRD Underwater | Diver and ROV Installation Products

MECHANICAL RESEARCH & DESIGN, INC. UNDERWATER CONSTRUCTION PRODUCTS - DIVER INSTALLATION

A large number of the products Mechanical Research & Design, Inc. designs and fabricates, are intended to support our clients’ Underwater Construction needs. We work with divers, construction engineers, engineering bid preparers, and plant operators to develop unique solutions for the more complicated installation spaces and physical limitations that exist while working underwater, offshore, and subsea. We engineer, fabricate, and validate a wide number of products for underwater use, including: isolation bulkheads, barriers, and plugs; subsea connectors and seal housing adaptors; work assist lifting and handling tools; ROV adaptable tools, and many more cutting-edge solutions you will not find anywhere else.

 

We work everyday with underwater service contractors and operators designing single isolation point pressure barriers, putting redundancy of restraint and sealing into a single product, and are trusted around the industry where workers are directly behind our barriers for months or years at a time. Mechanical Research & Design, Inc. has a field-proven track record with utilization of our heavily-tested sealing methods and products — including our SEALFAST® Elastomers, active mechanical and inflatable sealing solutions you can count on the first time and every time. Many of the same products we employ for standard above water applications can be used directly or with slight modifications for subsea service. We specialize in buoyancy control and design for our products, eliminating the need for hard-to-handle air bags and other hazardous rigging operations.

 

We have marine construction references and case studies for successful installations all around the world, where we succeeded when others failed and where others were convinced any solution was impossible. Contact us today to help you with your own underwater construction solution! Need help designing a solution for an underwater construction bid? Call us as well, we are happy to help. Our engineers have decades of experience in successful installations and can assist you in planning and preparing for future projects!

Have Specific Requirements?

We specialize in custom solutions! Take a look at a few of our proven custom solutions or let us know your requirements. Our engineers and production staff are equipped to travel around the world at a moment’s notice to assist you with your needs!

Let's Talk!

Contact us today to discuss our rates or to book an appointment with one of our engineers. 

UNDERWATER ISOLATION AND TEST PLUGS

We manufacture a large selection of different sizes, shapes, and types of General and Custom Pipe Plugs for Underwater Construction. Used for low pressure debris blocks to thousands of PSI isolation and test pressure, we make plugs for nearly every type of piping system: carbon steel, stainless steel, ductile iron, concrete, polymer, composite, lined pipe, or formed tunnels, for new and existing infrastructure. We design our plugs to be safe and secure, for reverse pressure applications common in de-watering pipelines for valve repairs to normal and bi-directional pressure to ensure our tools stay in place for months or years as required by our customers. Our underwater pipe plugs are often used for new or existing pipeline repair, sump isolation, valve isolation, hydroelectric dam repairs, water inlet isolation, subsea pipeline de-commissioning, and other emergency isolation applications. Most of our pipe plugs and small isolation barriers can be adapted or modified for underwater use.

 

CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR GENERAL PIPE PLUGS! 

UNDERWATER ISOLATION BULKHEADS

Mechanical Research & Design, Inc. specializes in Large Isolation Barriers and Bulkheads for Underwater Construction. We design and fabricate quickly so you can focus on your larger construction activities. We work closely with engineers and inspection data to design tools that fit the application for maximum range of use, since accurate measurements are hard to come by, and we always focus heavily on safety. We design Underwater Construction Bulkheads for general waterworks construction, tunnel isolation, pumping stations, wastewater treatment plants, nuclear plants, hydroelectric dams, and essentially any underwater application. Our tools are used for general construction isolation, channel repair, valve repairs, penstock repairs, sump isolation, and much more! Most of our Isolation barriers can be adapted or modified for underwater use. 

CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR GENERAL BULKHEADS AND LARGE ISOLATION BARRIERS!  

GENERAL UNDERWATER ISOLATION AND TEST PRODUCTS

We provide a wide variety of Underwater Isolation and Test Tools beyond general Isolation Barriers and Plugs, including Subsea Joint Testers, Subsea Annular Seals, Subsea Grout Packers, and many more solutions. As with many of our other products, Underwater Technicians and Divers choose to use many of our standard product lines for Subsea service — however, we can customize nearly any solution for your specific application and validate it in our Underwater Test Facility complete with buoyancy testing, pressure testing, and full functional testing with your diver’s or ROVs. 

CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR GENERAL ISOLATION AND TEST TOOLS, INCLUDING JOINT TESTERS, ANNULAR SEALS, AND FLANGE TESTERS! 

UNDERWATER CONNECTORS

Mechanical Research & Design, Inc. is the leader in Subsea Pipeline Connectors and Seal Housings, designers and fabricators of both standard pipeline connectors as well as customized fittings that can adapt to any existing pipe condition. We have connectors that can be installed using divers or ROVs and we excel in designing Subsea Connectors that can be installed in nearly any installation setting and at any depth. We design for durability, corrosion resistance, and extreme life for some of the most demanding applications in existence.

CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR GENERAL CONNECTORS AND SEAL HOUSINGS! 

UNDERWATER LIFTING AND HANDLING TOOLS

To assist our Underwater Construction clients, we have designed and manufactured a diverse selection of lifting and handling aids, suited for Subsea use. We have designed adjustable weight and cog tools for loading weights in confined spaces, special buoyancy control designs to manipulate parts and pieces where overhead access is limited, and other lifting devices for remote installations in underwater tunnel and piping systems. We work with divers every day to manage tool installation processes to optimize them for safety, speed, and efficiency. Many of our products utilize our reliable, field tested SEALFAST® Elastomers to control products when failure is not an option! 

CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR GENERAL WORK ASSIST TOOLS!

ROV TOOLS

We have worked with ROV Technicians and Operators for over 20 years, providing tooling specially designed for ROV Installation. Our ROV Tools are designed to be easy to operate, minimize weight, can include buoyancy and orientation controls, as well as onboard power supplies for extreme remote installations and operations. MRD will work hand-in-hand with you in your tool selection that aid ROVs in handling, stabilizing, manipulating, and actuating our tools. We understand that the Underwater Services world comes with its own challenges; see the products we have manufactured for short and long-term Subsea Service, here. 

CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR ROV TOOLS! 

MRD Underwater | Diver and ROV Installation Products

CUSTOM UNDERWATER SOLUTIONS

Whether you are in the design bid development phase, work planning phase, run into a problem during standard subsea operations, or are in an emergency where you need a product yesterday, Mechanical Research & Design, Inc. Underwater Construction Tools are the solution for you. Use many of our standard, on the shelf products for most of your needs or work with our experienced Marine Engineers to rapidly create a product to solve your immediate needs. Have a gate valve on a dam that won’t close, or need to shut down a water intake immediately? We can walk you through several solutions we have developed to solve the same problem, multiple times. Also, The Lab at Mechanical Research & Design, Inc. is famous in the industry for underwater testing, mock-up, and dry run installations. If you want to see your product fully functionally tested with divers or ROVs under full design load pressure and flow conditions, give us a call today! 

 

• TO SEE OUR OTHER STANDARD ISOLATION AND TEST TOOLS, CLICK HERE. 

• For Control Panels, Utilities, Turnkey Test and Operational Systems, please see our Controls and Accessories page.