Transneft Far East started the planned inspection of underwater crossings of ESPO-2
Transneft Far East, transporting oil through the second stage of Eastern Siberia - Pacific Ocean pipeline system (ESPO-2), says it started the planned inspection of the oil trunk pipeline underwater crossings (OTPUWC).
Monitoring has already been performed at the crossings across the first branch of the river Bolshaya Ussurka and the river Tamga (right tributary of the river Ussuri) in Primorie Territory. At the present time the works are conducted at the second and the third branches of Bolshaya Ussurka and at the river Staraya Tunguska in Khabarovsk Territory.
The inspection is conducted by specialists of Transneft UW Service as part of the integrated programme of oil pipelines diagnostics of Transneft; its purpose is monitoring of the pipeline condition. The specialists detect deviations from the planned high-altitude position of the pipe and possible nonconformities to the method of construction of the crossing across the water barrier. In case of detecting deviations from the planned values, the nonconformities will be eliminated.
In 2017 monitoring of 18 OTPUWC of ESPO-2 is planned, including across the Stepanovskaya channel (tributary of Ussuri) in Primorie, the rivers Kiya, Khor and Amur in Khabarovsk Territory, Bolshaya Kamenushka, Malaya Kamenushka and Sutara in Jewish Autonomous Region, as well as Zeya and Bureya in Amur Region. The inspection will be finished in the beginning of September 2017.
41 OTPUWC are equipped in the route of ESPO-2, laid in Amur Region and Jewish Autonomous Region, Khabarovsk and Primorie Territories; 19 of them are complex. The lengthiest and the most technically complicated are the crossings across the rivers Zeya, Bureya, Ussuri, Khor, Amur. The length of OTPUWC across the river Amur is equal to 30 km. It contains 10 water barriers, including the main channel of the river Amur with the width of more than 1,500 m in the place of crossing. In total the second stage of ESPO crosses more than 40 rivers and more than 500 minor streams.
