Brownline is proud to have worked with The Crossing Company on the successful completion of the Murray River crossing for the Coastal Gas Link Pipeline Project in late 2020. The Murray River was the largest trenchless water crossing on the approximately 670km long project, which spans from Dawson Creek, BC to LNG Canada’s facility located in Kitimat, BC.
The pipeline route is planned to cross the Canadian Rockies and other mountain ranges where LNG Canada will convert the Natural Gas into a liquefied state (LNG) for export to primarily Asian markets. The completion of the project will assist in reducing global emissions by replacing higher carbon emitting fuel sources, transporting between 2 and 5 Billion Cubic feet of LNG per day. The 48” NPS 29.6mm WT pipeline was successfully installed by The Crossing Company at 60m under the River bottom in June 2021.
The project required just under 106m of 72” Surface Casing installed at 22° on the entry side of the operations and 58m of 72” surface casing installed at 14° on the exit side in order to ensure borehole stability through the unconsolidated formations into bedrock. Due to the length of the casing that was installed, Brownline’s Gyro Steering Tools were used to asbuilt the installed casing location to verify the casing positions before drilling could begin. The information was then used by the engineering teams to conclude a final design for pilot hole completion within needed radial specifications. Once the plan was approved, drilling operations were continued.
Due to the high elevations of entry and exit locations from the River and the large planned radius of the bore path (1200m +), the plan had no bottom tangent for the planned intersect operations. The planned intersect zone was to be executed along the 420m exit tangent at 14°. The large radial specifications required diligent planning to ensure a smooth transition at the intersect point. With Brownline Gyro Steering Tool and Radar combination, the intersect was made within the planned zone with no compromised radial specifications.
Brownline and the Drillguide Gyro Steering Tools/Radar allowed for pilot hole operations to be completed while producing no disturbances to the surrounding areas and not requiring any activity outside of the entry and exit locations for steering operations. This was a very important aspect to the commitments made by Coastal Gas Link to the existing surrounding environment and communities along the project.