For the expansion of the Nord-West long-range oil pipeline, Brownline recently surveyed an intersect drill in the port of Hamburg, Germany. This drill job of 995 meters in length proved to be quite challenging due to the future placement of underground foundation pillars.
The Nord-West oil pipeline was constructed in 1956, which makes it one of the oldest oil pipelines in all of Europe. The pipeline stretches from Hamburg via Wilhelmshafen and the Ruhr region to Cologne. The 391 kilometers long pipeline is constantly filled up with approximately 142.000 cubic meters of unrefined oil, which is being transported to several refineries. Besides transporting oil, about 50.000 cubic meters can also be stored in a large tank when the pipeline is working on full capacity.
Several important factors were influencing this drill job. The drilling conditions were not ideal, because of the softness of the soil. The drill head had to be monitored constantly because of the risk of it dropping downwards. Another major factor was in the drill trajectory itself. Two foundation pillars for a fly over will be placed right over the pipeline in the near future, which means that there was absolutely zero room for deviation in this trajectory.
For this drill job, Brownline used the Drillguide GST in combination with the Radar and GPS Track. The GPS Track was used for additional verification of the trajectory in the zone of the two pillars. In combination with the Radar tool, a perfect hole in one was made; another efficient and well executed Brownline project!