GODAVARI River:-

IOCL desired to lay 18”/16”/14” OD product pipeline from its existing Refinery at Paradip (Odisha) to the proposed Marketing Terminal at Hyderabad (Telangana) of 1206 KM length approximately. The biggest challenge under this project was to lay the pipeline across the approx. 3.1km stretch in rock ground condition of Godavari River near Rajamundhry, Andhra Pradesh. In the past, other Oil/Gas refiners such as HPCL and GAIL had their pipelines across the same stretch by construction of a overhead bridge.
By deploying two HDD Rigs of 550 Tons and 280 Tons Capacity along with 3 mechanical crews for pipeline welding consisting of a total team of over 100 crew members working round the clock considering the challenging ground condition and onset of monsoon anticipating flooding at the work site, DEPL was successfully able to complete the project in a period of 150 days from Ground Breaking till pipeline installation of total 3.1km Length at a depth of about 20m below river bed.

The completion of this project marked India’s Longest Pipe Installation in Rock Strata completed by Horizontal Directional Drilling Method as on date.

SOAN River - Intersection Method :-

Indian Oil Corporation had envisioned expansion of itsexisting pipeline from Panipat-Ambala-Jalandhar upto Una in Himachal Pradesh, however, a key aspect in this expansion was to lay the pipeline across Soan River the underground strata of which consisted mainly of sand along with big boulders and pebbles, making it close to impossible for laying of pipeline across that stretch.

DEPL was awarded work for this stretch by IOCL with specialized condition of using Innovative Horizontal Directional Drilling - Intersect Method, by using electromagnetic wireline tracking system and deploying two HDD Rigs simultaneously for construction of tunnel for pipe installation.

DEPL conducted detailed site investigation along with conducting fresh soil sampling and proposed to IOCL to install the pipeline at a depth of about 20m below river bed considering the sub soil strata. DEPL deployed two HDD Rig of 550 Tons and 160 Tons capacity along with highly experienced expat crew and along with round the clock operation was able to complete this project as per plan.

The completion of this project marked India’s First Pipe Installation by Innovative HDD Intersect method to be completed by Horizontal Directional Drilling Method in Sand/Boulder/Pebbles sub soil strata for a State-Owned Refiner as on date.

NARMADA River:-

Indian Oil Corporation wanted to lay 18” OD product pipeline from its existing Dumad Station (Vadodara, Gujarat) to Akolner Station (Ahmednagar Maharashtra) of 511 KM length approximately under which it faced two key challenges, of laying pipeline across the massive Narmada River in Gujarat (Near the Statue of Unity) as well as Tapi River. As a part of group of 15 HDD X-ings awarded to DEPL, the pipeline installation works across Narmada River was under taken and using a 300 Tons Horizontal Directional Drilling rig and Expat HDD crew and a mix of specializedrock and soil reamers developed by DEPL through high-end research and development, drilling through the hard rock path was undertaken by DEPL and a 18” OD Steel Pipeline of approximately 1100m was installed across the Narmada River at a depth of about 20m below river bed.

MALAN River :-

Owing to constant flooding and soil erosion, the existing pipeline of Indian Oil Corporation across the Malan River location at Najibabad, Uttar Pradesh under it’sKukukshetra – Rourkee - Najibabad Pipeline was exposed upto top in the river sections and had become a safety hazard for local residents as well as posed a challenge to hinder oil supply  to major parts of North India. IOCL had awarded works for replacement of 2 underground sections of existing charged pipelines of about 1km each in these exposed areas. DEPL was successfully able to complete pipe installation using HorizonalDirectioanl Drilling across the Malan Riverin two sections 1km each in about 50 days each despite local challenges of farmers and dangerous wild animals in area. Furthermore, the next challenge was to locate the existing product pipe and hooking up the new installed section with the charged product pipeline supplying oil to various stations across Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. DEPL being the pioneer in such segment used Water Plugging Method evacuate the oil in these sections and completed the hook up of pipelines using overnight mechanical crews and restored connectivity of pipeline.

KOSASTHALAIYAR River :-

The project was awarded by the IOCL, Pipelines Division. IOCL wanted to lay 30” OD RLNG pipeline from Ennore LNG Terminal to IP 101, Palliyagram of approximately 117 KM length in the state of Tamil Nadu next to a Kamarajar Port Limited, formerly Ennore Port. A 160 Ton HDD Rig was deployed here with specialized reamers for making bore in sand. The highlights of this project were that Site assigned to DEPL was prone to high tides and could be easily flooded hence work had to be expedited round the clock. Furthermore, one end of the crossing was located inside the Port so coordination considering port security protocols and special clearances for movement of manpower and equipment to match the high speed of drilling in sand had to be undertaken. Through special permissions from State Authorities, this work was completed during the Coronavirus handed over to IOCL in June 2020.

 

TAPI River:-

Similar to situation encountered across the Narmada River, under Indian Oil Corporation’s Koyali-Ahmednagar Pipeline project, as a part of group of 15 HDD X-ings awarded to DEPL, the pipeline installation works across Tapi River were under taken and using a 280 Tons Horizontal Directional Drilling rig and Expat HDD crew and a mix of specialized rock reamers with diamond bits developed by DEPL through high-end research and development. Accordingly drilling through the extreamlyhard rock path was undertaken by DEPL and a 18” OD Steel Pipeline of approximately 1000m was installed across the Tapi River at a depth of about 15m below river bed., despite challenging hinderances of the Covid-19 Pandemic (by seeking special permission from state authorities for working during Coroanvirus Lockdown), Flooding at site and Continuous Hard Rock encountered in the entire drilling path.