At present the majority of wood-stave pipelines are supported on rigid cradles which bear on the lower 45% of the pipe circumference. The accepted method of analysis, developed by Regnell, completely ignores the stress concentrations induced in the staves just above the cradle tips. In this work, a full ring is proposed to distribute the support reaction to all staves and minimize deflections from a circular profile. From a consideration of equilibrium and stress-displacement relations for a stave element two fourth-order partial differential equations in terms of the radial and tangential displacements of the element are developed. Trigonometric series are applied to their solution. The support ring displacements are similarly described in series form. A study of the compatibility of ring and stave deflections removes the indeterminacy and all stress resultants, as functions of the ring or stave deflections, are then available from back-substitution. The formulas established are sufficiently complex that access to an electronic computer is a great practical advantage. In a numerical example, the effects of modifying the ring stiffness, hydraulic head, and the circumferential stiffness of the stave cylinder are investigated. The non-linear influence of ring and band tensions on the deformed shape of the structure is included. Design considerations are briefly discussed. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Civil Engineering, Department of / Graduate