The specialists of JSC Stroytransgaz have completed internal installation works of the tunnel crossing in the Kobyla ridge in the Caucasus Mountains and started installation of the pipe string.
Thursday, June 20, 2002
The specialists of JSC Stroytransgaz have completed internal installation works of the tunnel crossing in the Kobyla ridge in the Caucasus Mountains and started installation of the pipe string.
Pushing of the pipeline through the tunnel is carried out with the help of a specially designed hydraulic jack which moves the pipeline on roll supports placed along the whole length of the crossing. As of this day 100 meters of the pipeline have already been installed in the tunnel. As it was informed earlier Stroytransgaz for the first time in the Russian practice during installation of a gas pipeline across a mountain ridge the method of shield tunneling was used and this made it possible to save 7 hectares of forest of valuable species and increase operational reliability of the pipeline route. At the same time as these works are in progress the Company is engaged in installation of a crossing on the Bezymianny mountain ridge. This crossing consists of two tunnels: 988 and 196 meters long. For construction of the first tunnel the method of shield tunneling is also used. Construction of the second tunnel is carried out by using a traditional method by means of a tunneling machine. Both variants of installation on the Bezymianny mountain ridge assume minimum effect on the environment both during construction and operation of the pipeline. Besides JSC Stroytransgaz is nearing the closing stage of construction of the linear part of the pipeline on the plane section of the route km 0 – 370. At present 100 km of the pipeline have been purged and 56 km prepared for hydrostatic test by using a stress-test method. 74 kilometers out of 312 of 10 kV HV line along the route have already been installed.
