TPi April 2012

business & market news

Problem pipeline removed from environmentally sensitive site

A traditional approach, with invasive excavation machinery on barges, would have required more restrictive permitting requirements, making the extraction virtually impossible. James Cross, Sr, president of Cross Marine Projects, commented, “This is a first. I have been doing underwater engineering for close to forty years, and I have never heard of anyone extracting pipelines in this way.” The crewcut the pipe into sections and removed the potentially hazardous portion. A diver then descended to the bottom of the river to ensure that all navigational hazards had been removed.

Cross Marine began with a sonar scan of the riverbed to determine the pipeline’s location and collect data on the depth of silt covering it. The company also sent a diver into the river to perform a physical inspection to determine the best method to remove the pipe without using environmentally damaging excavation equipment. After analysing the sonar data and the diver’s report, Cross Marine prepared an extraction plan. The company arrived on the site with boats, commercial diving gear, a crane and a specialised device to free the pipeline from tons of mud holding it to the bottom of the river. This innovative approach allowed the company to complete the project under the requirements of an Army Corps of Engineers Nationwide Permit 22.

Cross Marine Projects has removed a potentially hazardous length of pipe from the Colorado River south of Moab, Utah, USA, at the request of Intrepid Potash, Inc. The pipe, which had been in the river for several decades, used to transport natural gas to the Intrepid Potash facility nearby. It was in a location popular with boaters, minutes away from world-famous tourist sites. Shifting sand in the riverbed had formed places where fallen trees and other debris could catch on the pipe and present hazards to boaters, and there were potential future problems from corrosion and breakage. Since there is no established protocol for extracting pipes from riverbeds, Cross Marine had to devise an effective and environmentally non- destructive method.

cross Marine Projects – USA projects@crossmpc.com www.crossmpc.com

Major export contract for St Lucia hospital Pipe Center has won a contract to supply the full range of pipe, fittings, valves, sheet metal and ancillaries required for a new state-of-the-art National Hospital being built to serve the island of St Lucia. When completed the 122-bed establishment at Coubaril will be the most modern public healthcare facility in the Caribbean. heat recovery, fire fighting and sanitary waste, ventilation, rain water and HVAC systems. The overall value of the supply contract to the company is expected to exceed £500,000.

It will include an accident and emergency department, acute general wards, high- tech operating theatres and intensive care unit. The financing package for the hospital is believed to be one of the largest grant allocations in the Caribbean made by the European Union for a single project. The new hospital will become the main healthcare facility on the island, replacing the 127-year-old Victoria Hospital, which has been struggling to meet the country’s growing health care needs. Pipe Center will contribute all components, pipe work and materials for the hospital’s domestic hot and cold water system, solar collection,

Mark Palmer, product development manager, commented, “It is obviously a major supply contract and involves a number of our business sectors and suppliers contributing in close partnership. It has highlighted our ability as a business to work across the full spectrum of the market, not only bringing teams together within Wolseley, but harnessing the excellent relationships we have with manufacturers and suppliers. As a result, we are now even better placed to deliver complete solutions for major and complex projects – whether at home in the UK or abroad.” Wolseley – UK customerservices@wolseley.co.uk www.wolseley.co.uk

Mark Palmer, Pipe Center product development manager

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