NRL completes one of the world’s longest HDD pipeline crossings in Jorhat
Laying of the pipeline which began in December 2022 from Paradip has passed through five states – Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Assam
Image of Bio Refinery Project in Numaligarh (Photo: @EngineersIND/x)
Jorhat, Jan 23: Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) has accomplished a major feat by laying one of the world’s longest (4,058 metres) horizontal directional drilling crossing under the Brahmaputra river in Jorhat district as part of the Paradip-Numaligarh crude oil pipeline project.
Under the project, laying a 1,635-km crude oil pipeline connecting Paradip in Odisha to Numaligarh is in progress to supply crude to NRL after the refinery’s capacity was enhanced from 3 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) to 9 MMTPA.
Speaking to The Assam Tribune, NRL chief general manager (CGM) and head (project pipeline) Pranab Jyoti Sarma said that laying of the pipeline which began in December 2022 from Paradip has passed through five states – Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Assam – and has crossed several rivers and water bodies.
He said that after the pipeline reached Majuli from the northern bank of the Brahmaputra, a major task was to lay the pipeline under the riverbed from Afalamukh (Majuli) to Nimatighat (Jorhat) on the southern bank.
Following the failure of the initial contractor after two years, the work was reassigned to M/s Trenchless Engineering Services Pvt. Ltd., which ensured the critical crossing was completed successfully within one year.
Stating that laying of the 4,058-metre pipeline was completed a few days ago, Sarma said that use of state-of-the-art technology was necessary because the crossing demanded complex planning and high precision under challenging conditions.
The crossing was done at a distance from the NRL refinery because the width of the river was much more in areas near the refinery.
Till now, out of the total lengh of the pipeline (1635 km), a length of 1,460 km has been laid. The pipeline has undergone 38 river crossings and will pass through 10 tunnels, out of which eight have been completed. In addition, the pipeline has passed through 90 water bodies and several roads including highways.
By
Staff Correspondent