Yakutia receiving pipes for Siberia-Pacific pipeline
Tue, 16 January 2007
TRAINLOADS of pipes, equipment, and the construction materials required to build the Eastern Siberia-Pacific oil pipeline are now starting to arrive in the Russian city of Khabarovsk in Yakutia. The local authorities reported that over 300 rail wagons had been unloaded at the Neryungri and Nagornaya stations by 14 January, and the flow of materials is increasing.
1,363km of the pipeline is to be laid across Yakutia, and upwards of 12,000 people, including 5,000 local workers, are expected to be engaged in construction of the trunk pipeline.
Following resolution of environmental and routeing concerns, operator Transneft is supplying factory-insulated pipe, designed with a safety factor of three for cross-country sections, and a safety factor of five for underwater sections, river crossings, etc. Automatic leak-detection equipment is being installed, and rapid-response groups and equipment will be based near pump stations along the pipeline's route. In 2006, around 530km of the pipeline was laid in the Taishet-Ust-Kut section in the Irkutsk Region, as well as in the Tynda-Skovorodino section in the Amur Region. During this year, work will continue in these areas, and start in the Yakutia Region as well as at the sea terminal at Kozmino in the Primorye Region. The final length of the pipeline will be 2,800km: the first stage to be commissioned will be between Taishet and Skovorodino, and will have a capacity of 30m tons/yr.