Australia: Main QCLNG Pipeline in Ground

Main QCLNG Pipeline in Ground

The main gas pipeline for the Queensland Curtis LNG Project is in the ground, completing a two-year task over more than 540km to lay the longest large-diameter buried pipeline in Australia.

The final kilometre of the 1m-diameter pipeline has been laid near Biloela in central Queensland, with crews expected to complete integrity tests in the next few weeks.

This will be followed by rehabilitation of the pipeline easement.

The pipeline was laid by construction contractor MCJV, a joint venture between McConnell Dowell Constructors (Aust) Pty Ltd and Consolidated Contracting Company Australia Pty Ltd.

When commissioned this year, the pipeline will transport natural gas from QGC’s tenements in the Surat Basin to the QCLNG plant on Curtis Island near Gladstone where the gas will be liquefied for export.

The pipeline comprises about 200km from Dalby to Wandoan and more than 340km from the gas fields to Curtis Island.

Facilities north of Miles and on Curtis Island are being finalised to regulate gas flow through the pipeline.

QGC Managing Director Derek Fisher said the milestone represented a world-class engineering feat.

This is a tremendous achievement, meaning we remain on track to start commissioning the world’s first plant to convert natural gas from coal seams into liquefied natural gas next year,” he said.

In the process we have set records for Australian pipeline construction, including the longest twin pipe-pull in Australia when The Narrows channel at Curtis Island was crossed earlier this year.

Pipeline facts

  • 46,200 individual 12m lengths, each of four tonnes
  • 1147 crossings of creeks, roads, access tracks, railway lines and third-party utilities and passing through 580 fences
  • Work force of more than 1575 at peak construction for a total of 12 million working hours
  • Project vehicles travelled more than 44 million kilometres
  • Buried with between 0.75m and 1.5m of cover, depending on terrain and land use, with cover of more than 1.5m at creek, road and railway crossings
  • Fusion-bonded epoxy coating and cathodic protection to prevent corrosion
  • Remotely activated valves at least every 90km for shutdowns
  • Operation constantly monitored from QGC’s Chinchilla operations centre
  • Regular inspections from air and on ground

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LNG World News Staff, October 22, 2013; Image: QGC