Gas pipelines and branches
From 1996 through 2000, a consortium comprising Stroytransgaz (consortium leader) Prometheus Gas S.A., and ZANGAS executed our company’s first international project—construction of branch gas pipelines with total length of 446 kilometers and diameters ranging from 10 inches to 30 inches.
The project was realized as part of an inter-governmental agreement signed in December 1994 between Russia and Greece. The agreement called for turnkey construction of high-pressure distribution gas pipeline branches from the Bulgaria-Athens main gas pipeline.
The Greek state gas company DEPA S.A. was customer for the project. The gas pipelines that were built are unique in technical characteristics and complexity of construction. Virtually all the pipelines pierce mountain masses of 1,300 meters to 1, 500 meters in height with challenging hydro-geological conditions in compactly settled areas and irrigated land.
To satisfy environmental demands, the land’s topography could not be disturbed; thus a large number of field and hot bends were used and crossings were constructed. It was necessary as well to overcome many landslide areas and earthquake zones (ranging to nine points on the Richter scale). A great number of the archeological zones that we crossed required special care.