🔍 Key Concepts

• Load removal and leg reactions on a 3-legged jack-up or drilling unit • How a transverse (athwartships) shift of load affects port vs. starboard leg reactions • Using moments about centerline: Moment = Weight × Transverse distance

💭 Think About

• First, think about the total vertical reaction on all legs BEFORE and AFTER removing 236 kips. Does the total reaction increase, decrease, or stay the same? • Next, consider that the 236 kips was located 19.79 ft to port. When you remove that weight, what happens to the heeling moment about the centerline – does it make the platform heel more to port or to starboard? • Use a simple moment balance about the centerline: the change in port leg reaction plus the change in starboard leg reaction must equal the removed load, and their moments must balance the lost load moment. How can you set up these two equations to solve for the new starboard leg reaction?

✅ Before You Answer

• Verify the total vertical reaction must equal the new total load carried by the legs after discharging 236 kips. • Check the sign convention for transverse distances: port vs. starboard, and be consistent when summing moments about the centerline. • Confirm you are using the correct initial leg reactions from Sample Load Form #3 before adjusting for the removal of weight.