line a skilled person will understand that the axial force in the pipeline increases stepwise when travelling in a downstream direction 80 below each support surface the axial force increases when compared to the axial force above the support surface likewise in the pipeline support 12 the axial force increases when travelling in a downstream direction it can be seen in fig2 that the thickness t 2 of the pipeline support 12 between the second and third pipeline support 20 b and 20 c is greater than the thickness t 1 of the pipeline support 12 between the first and second support member 20 a and 20 b in this way the increased force does not lead to an increased compressive stress and or strain in the pipeline support 12 between the second support member 20 b and third support member 20 c fig3 a and 3b further show the embodiment of fig2 wherein three support members are provided it can be seen in fig3 a that three support surfaces 18 a 1 18 a 2 18 a 3 on the pipeline 10 are provided for a fixed pipeline support 12 and three support surfaces 18 a 4 18 a 5 18 a 6 are provided for a movable pipeline support 120 the angle 21 of the support surfaces relative to the.