Typical HDD Projects
At 17:14 on May 22, 2022, as the reamer slowly emerged from the slurry surface, it marked the successful pullback of the HDD crossing work for the South Juma River No. 3 crossing for Phase 1 of the Mengxi coal-to-natural-gas transmission pipeline project, undertaken by our company. This also marked the completion of all five directional drilling projects within our company’s section. Additionally, this 1016mm diameter and 1927.1m long crossing is currently the longest completed HDD crossing in the entire Mengxi Phase I project.
As a key project for the interconnection of national oil and gas infrastructure, the Mengxi Phase I pipeline project is the first main natural gas pipeline directly supplying the Xiong'an New Area. It is of great significance for ensuring people's livelihood gas supply in the region, supporting the construction of the Xiong'an New Area, promoting economic and social development along the pipeline route, and advancing regional green and low-carbon development.
Construction of the project began on December 11, 2021, and with the strong support and coordination of the government of Neizhang Town, Dingxing County, the land acquisition issue was finally resolved. To ensure the land would be returned to the villagers by June 30, 2022 as local government required, our company assigned a strong management team to the project site, deployed resources efficiently and meticulously carried out the construction. After resuming work on March 25, 2022, the entire project team, with enthusiasm and energy, actively participated in the construction.
During construction, challenges included complex geological conditions along the crossing curve, intricate land acquisition coordination, and the impact of planned routes, making the project difficult. To address these issues, the company and project team organized multiple meetings with experts and on-site technical staff to analyze the situation. Through optimization of the crossing curve, the best construction plan was determined finally, ensuring both the project schedule and quality.
To further promote the South Juma River No. 3 HDD crossing work, on April 27, 2022, Hebei Xiong'an Rongwu Expressway Co., Ltd. organized an expert review meeting for the construction plan of the Mengxi coal-to-natural-gas transmission pipeline project’s undercrossing of the Rongwu Expressway new line.
The successful review meeting of the construction plan further guided the optimization of the project plan, facilitating the safe and rapid advancement of the project. It provided strong technical support for the timely completion of the project and ensured both the safety and quality of the construction, laying a solid foundation for the successful completion of the project.
The South Juma River No. 3 crossing has a pipe diameter of 1016mm, with each pipe weighing 8 tons. A total of 160 pipes, with a total weight of 1280 tons, were used for the 1920m long prefabricated pipeline. Traditional pipe pullback method was not feasible, so a pipe jacking machine was set up 67.2m from the exit point, forwarded by rollers. From 60 meters to the end of the pipe, an excavation method was used to reduce the pull-back resistance. Additionally, a pipe ramming hammer was installed at the pipe tail to assist with the pull-back and ensure the integrity of the pipeline’s anti-corrosion layer during the process, ensuring the pull-back was completed successfully in one go.
During the pull-back, company leaders, project managers, and related personnel closely monitored the site, resolving issues on-site, real-time analyzing the pull-back progress, torque, and tension, providing accurate solutions when necessary. After 20 hours of day-and-night efforts, the pull-back was successfully completed in one go!
The completion of the South Juma River No.3 directional drilling crossing in the Mengxi coal-to-natural-gas transmission pipeline Phase I project marks the successful completion of the final in the 4th section of the Mengxi pipeline Phase I project, laying a solid foundation for the on-time commissioning of the Phase I project.
This successful pull-back marks the removal of the most critical and difficult obstacle in the Mengxi project, further validating our company's mature capability in horizontal directional drilling crossings and accumulating valuable construction experience for large-diameter, long-distance pipeline crossings.
