The first shipment for Tranche 1 arrived on 1 March 2014 and the second arrived ten days later.
Qube Energy operates the facility at South Wharf and managed the wharf lay down, which meant that it could discharge at any time with no interruption to urban traffic. Qube was also stevedoring the vessel, which allowed for a well-planned and open communication operation.
Qube unloading pipe from the vessel.
Qube discharging pipe from the wharf to its facility.
Stockpiling
For the first time, Qube Energy used the Dhatec Pipe Stop system for stockpiling of line pipe at its wharf facility. This is a very secure, safe and efficient system allowing Qube Energy to remove sections of track not required once line pipe has been moved out, meaning that lay down area is quickly reclaimed, or can be moved to smaller sections with multiple access points.
A time lapse of the line pipe being stockpiled at Qube’s South Wharf facility.
Load out
The use of the Vacuworx vacuum lift also allowed Qube Energy to achieve quick load out of line pipe. Loads were preloaded by the yard crew prior to the return of the trucks, which meant Qube Energy could hot seat drivers within a short period to maximise deliveries per day.
The load out of pipe was co-ordinated around curfew hours to enable trucks to deliver multiple loads in one day. To date, Qube Energy has delivered 28 km of pipe to the lay-down site at Wallan and 38 km to the lay-down site Seymour.
The Victorian Northern Interconnect Expansion (VNIE) Project involves looping sections of the existing 260 km Victorian Northern Interconnect (VNI) Pipeline to increase capacity, as well as increasing compression capacity north and south of the VNI. The VNI pipeline runs from Wollert, north of Melbourne to Barnawatha, south of the Murray River, and the expansion project involves looping 62 per cent of the pipeline. The looping and compression project is underway and will be completed in stages, with all projects due for completion by winter 2015.