Updated guidance for geotechnical design of offshore infrastructure: ISO 19901-4 Ed 3

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The third edition of ISO standard Geotechnical Design Considerations 19901-4 has been published in 2025 and supersedes the second edition from 2016. Key inclusions in the normative clauses of the revised standard include new guidance on the representative value of soil properties; new sub-clauses to cover design of intermediate foundations for fixed structures; performance-based design considerations; a unified CPT-based pile design method for sands; a new clause on re-assessment of pile capacity; and additional guidance on hydraulic fracture criteria for design of conductor piles. The informative annexes are also extended to cover pipeline-soil interaction; stability, trenching and backfilling of shallow water pipelines in mixed soils; and guidance and possible mitigation for seabed trenches developing in taut moorings. The motivation and scope of the new inclusions and amendments in the revised standard will be discussed in the paper.  The parallel development and publication of the ISO and API documents covering geotechnical design considerations will also be highlighted as an exemplar for working together to produce design guidance that lead to the same design outcome irrespective of document used and in spite of a different approach to factor of safety being adopted by each standard.

5th International Symposium on Frontiers in Offshore Geotechnics (ISFOG2025)

17 - Design Standards, Certification and Risk Mitigation