The Coffey Testing Team in Western Australia have been contracted by Ertech to supply testing services for the Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) Shore Crossing Project.
The project consists of drilling a pipe underneath the beach out into the ocean, in order to connect an umbilical to a gas field, which is 170 km from the coast of Barrow Island.
Coffey Testing are performing compaction control, alongside classification and concrete testing to assist this.
Barrow Island is home to the Gorgon Gas Plant, owned by Chevron. Barrow Island is also a Class A nature reserve, which also brings a number of hurdles when it comes to project execution. The team have had to be proactive and think of ways in which they can minimise the impact of any of the island’s native flora and fauna. Due to turtle nesting season starting soon, there has been a fence erected in the background in order to prevent turtles from coming into the work site and nesting.
The HDD Shore Crossing Project is expected to run for 10-12 months, with follow up projects to further assist with the connection of the umbilical across the island to the main gas plant, extending the project’s lifespan to approximately 18-24 months.
