An almost 1 km long gas pipeline will be installed under the San river using the technique of horizontal directional drilling (HDD). The upcoming drilling process is one of the biggest challenges for GAZ-SYSTEM in the construction of the Hermanowice-Strachocina gas pipeline.
The drilling of the opening in which the gas pipeline will be installed started in the village of Mrzygłód (Sanok district). Once it is completed, the company will place a gas pipeline approximately 1 km long underneath the San river. The scale of the challenge stems from the length of the drill hole, which is one of the longest of this kind in Poland. The difficulty is exacerbated by the fact that the drilling needs to go through a rock formation.
The first phase of the project includes the drilling of the so-called pilot bore hole to install the DN200 pipeline, which during the works will serve as a reverse flow for the drilling fluid and once the project is over will be used as a protective pipe for fiber lines.
In the second phase a pilot bore hole for the final gas pipeline will be made. Once completed, it will be widened, which will take place in a few stages in which drilling appliances suitable for the existing geological conditions will be used. After the required diameter is drilled, the pipeline will be installed.
The HDD drilling under the San river is an element of the Hermanowice-Strachocina gas pipeline project, which will be an important part of the eastern line of the North-South Gas Corridor. The 72 kilometers long line will cross the districts of the podkarpackie voivodeship: Przemyśl, Fredropol, Ustrzyki Dolne, Bircza, Tyrawa Wołoska, Dydnia and Sanok.
Apart from the construction of the pipeline, the investment scope also encompasses, among others, the expansion of the Hermanowice gas node, which includes the design and construction of a branch to Ukraine and the building of five shut off and relief valve systems DN700 8.4 MPa with a bypass system.
The goal of the project is to increase the country’s energy security and modernize and expand the transmission system in south-east Poland. The investment is of great importance in the context of the planned construction of the new Ukraine-Poland gas pipeline, which will run between Poland’s Hermanowice and Ukraine’s Bliche Volytsia.
The estimated cost of the construction of the pipeline is PLN 288 m. Over PLN 110 m comes from the EU’s Infrastructure and Environment Operational Program.
It is planned that the investment will be completed in 2019.