The road to LNG: constructing Australia’s export pipelines

The Queensland Curtis LNG (QCLNG), Narrows Crossing and the Australia Pacific LNG projects were undertaken in a joint venture called the MCJV, which brought together the local experience and knowledge of McConnell Dowell with the technical expertise and international experience of Consolidated Contracting Company (CCC) to provide a world-class approach to the engineering, procurement and construction of these projects.

Queensland Curtis LNG

The QCLNG Project is one of Australia’s largest capital investment projects, and will initially supply up to 8.5 million tonnes per annum of LNG through the development of two LNG trains.

The QCLNG Export Pipeline and Gas Collection Header includes the engineering and construction of a 540 km, 1,066.8 mm diameter gas pipeline network linking gas fields in Queensland’s Surat Basin to the LNG plant on Curtis Island, just north of Gladstone.

This challenging project, which is the longest large diameter pipeline in Australia, involved more than 1,800 people employed at peak, with approximately 12 million man hours completed on works including more than 1,000 crossings of creeks, roads, access tracks, railway lines and third-party utilities as well as the construction of the pipeline network, with associated vehicles travelling more than 45 million kilometres.

Narrows Crossing

The Narrows Crossing Project involved connecting the QCLNG Export Pipeline across the Narrows, a section of the Gladstone Harbour, to the LNG plant on Curtis Island.

Part of the Narrows Crossing Project includes the Australia Pacific LNG Pipeline being in the same trench as QCLNG and is called the Bundled Crossing.

The Narrows Crossing Project is one of the most technically challenging locations through which to build a pipeline because of the multitude of sensitive terrestrial and marine environments encountered.

The 2.45 km pipeline was laid across Gladstone Harbour in February 2013 without injury or incident.

This was a significant engineering achievement and Australia’s longest large diameter underwater pipe-pull.

The project adopted environmental best practice and innovative environmental construction approaches that went beyond the legislative compliance.

The numerous and complex engineering solutions implemented support the construction of the twin pipeline project safely and in an environmentally responsible manner.

Australia Pacific LNG

The Australia Pacific LNG Project is a multi-million dollar contract awarded to MCJV to engineer and construct the 530 km gas transmission pipeline to transport coal seam gas from the Surat and Bowen basins to the LNG processing site located on Curtis Island.

To execute the three projects safely, the project teams came up with numerous innovative safety and environmental strategies allowing the projects to be successful.

From the “˜Game On’ safety program on Australia Pacific LNG Project to the environmental construction engineering on the QCLNG Narrows and the implementation of the in-vehicle monitoring system and journey management centres on the QCLNG Project, the projects brought out the best performance of the teams.

“These Australian projects were the combined effort of four years of challenging and dedicated work, allowing innovative strategies and solutions to be implemented,” said CCC Regional Managing Director – Africa, Caribbean and Pacific, Moujally Jabara.

“Their successful completion marks not just a significant milestone for both the Australia Pacific LNG and QCLNG projects, but a triumph for those whose hard work and commitment made it possible.”

CCC is a diversified global engineering and construction company with headquarters in Athens, Greece.

In over six decades of operation, CCC has grown to become one of the leading contractors in the international construction market, with over 120,000 employees from more than 80 nationalities.

For more information visit www.ccc.me and www.cccaus.com.au.

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