Leighton International's Magazine, Perspective, Issue 6 2010

PROJECT UPDATES
17
LABUAN PIPELINE PROJECT
COMPLETED AHEAD
OF SCHEDULE
A FEATHER IN THE CAP FOR LEIGHTON MALAYSIA AND LEIGHTON OFFSHORE AS THE
LABUAN WATER PIPELINE PROJECT IS COMPLETED A MONTH AHEAD OF SCHEDULE.
The Government of Malaysia is
undertaking the development of a Water
Pipeline in Labuan, East Malaysia, to
mitigate the acute water shortage on
the island. In collaboration with Leighton
Offshore and in Joint Venture with
Kencana HL, Leighton Malaysia
delivered the following:
The delivery of existing 26 inch
pipeline – 22740 meters including the
supply of additional 600 meters of
new pipes by Kencana.
Pre-installation pipelay analysis
Install and pre-commission
approximately 22.8km of submarine
pipeline in max water depths of 22m.
Post trench approximately 1.8km at
three locations along the route
Interface with existing mudflats
contractor including undertaking a
midpoint tie-in.
A key challenge to the installation of the
pipeline was the constraints that the
physical characteristics of the free issued
pipeline poses in terms of its stiffness,
due to the relatively thick reinforced
concrete weight coating and its relatively
thin wall thickness.
The challenges that this poses include
the ability to install this pipeline using a
pipe lay barge that has sufficient track
tensioner capacity, and undertaking detail
stress analysis using finite element
methods to identify and reduce bending
stresses during installation. Leighton
Stealth was used to install the pipeline
using the S-Lay method.
Leighton completed the project on
the 10th September, over a month ahead
of schedule.
Project Manager, Edgar Ramani, said
“It was a demanding project set against a
very tight timeline with the contract being
awarded on 17 th May, commencement of
onshore installation works on 29 th May
and offshore installation works on 7 th July.
So to have completed one month ahead
of schedule is something the team is very
proud of.
“We were given a very short period to
complete engineering and planning. The
installation of a thin wall, rigid pipeline
susceptible to buckling together with poor
weather conditions, plus working with a
competitive budget; were among the
challenging obstacles we faced. But the
dedicated and focused project team
overcame these challenges with great
success.
“We achieved this while maintaining a
high standard of safety and quality – with
no loss time injuries on the project and a
high audit score from Lloyds Register for
the environment audit with no nonconformances.
We also gave something
back to the local community through an
environmental awareness campaign with
a local community centre for disabled
kids. We planted fruit trees at the centre
and sponsored eight local athletes to take
part in the next Malaysian Paralympics
Games in Perak, Malaysia.”
The team delivered the project on-time
and well below budget, whilst efficiently
delivering Stealth for the next offshore
project, Devil Creek Development Project
in Australia on schedule.