Survey and Routeing

Critical Up-front Task
Optimal route selection at the outset of an offshore pipeline project has the potential to minimise subsequent design challenges and dramatically reduce construction costs. The critical importance of routeing decisions is recognised in our approach, which combines extensive experience with rapid and effective analysis tools to screen candidate routes.

Whilst these specialist skills are often generally available to office-based desk studies and detailed engineering, our ability to perform rapid analysis onboard the offshore survey vessel is unique within the industry. In many cases we are able to avoid geohazards, eliminate spanning, and minimise installation difficulties even before completion of the survey.

Where routeing challenges cannot be resolved offshore, we ensure that the survey data acquired is adequate for rigorous assessment during FEED and detailed design.

Project Highlights
Gulf of Aqaba Crossing, 2003
The 36” pipeline passes from Taba in Egypt to Aqaba in Jordan, crossing the 860m deep Gulf of Aqaba: a depth record for a large diameter pipeline. Both sides of the gulf are extremely steep, with numerous gullies and unstable slopes, and delicate corals at the shore approaches. Any pre- or post-lay intervention would have been very costly, with no scope for trenching or rock cover. Identifying a suitable route was particularly challenging, requiring sophisticated numerical analysis to minimise span lengths and avoid landslide run-out zones. KW supported the owner, EGC, at every stage of the project, with routeing specialists present on all offshore surveys. The final selected route eliminated all intervention requirements, in spite of extremely challenging seabed terrain.

Agiba Project: Gulf of Suez, 2005
Offshore and Onshore Support for pipeline routed in shallow waters with extensive reefs and rocky areas off the east coast of Egypt. Pipeline route optimized to avoid excessive spanning, relax installation tolerances, and avoid severe cross slopes to ensure lateral stability.

North Idku Project: North Africa, 2006
Pipeline route optimized to avoid reef and pass through flat seabed to improve trenching conditions. Pipeline route length minimized. Offshore support was provided to acquire firsthand data and perform real time route selection. Survey operations were adjusted in the field to suite selected route.