NGL Lines Water Crossing
Overview
A premier provider of midstream energy services, renowned for moving America’s energy one mile at a time, reached out to Ovolifts with an urgent need for engineered line lifting of 20” and 16” lines crossing the Hillebrandt Bayou south of Beaumont Texas.
These lifts presented some technical challenges and neither the operator or their contractor had found a viable method of lifting these lines conventionally.
The contractor reached out to Ovolifts and within a week a solution was engineered that met the unique challenges of this project.
The Need & Challenge
Strategically important pipelines transporting Natural Gas Liquids crossing the Hillebrandt Bayou south of Beaumont Texas required touchpoint remediation and installation of wear pads to prevent future corrosion.
Scaffolding had already been erected and the project was at risk of falling behind schedule and going over budget as the only option they had identified for lifting the lines was construction of an access road for mobilizing a large crane. The costs of this option were extremely high, but until they reached out to Ovolifts, they had no other option.
Particularly challenging for this project is that the pipes are resting on 12” circular supports which are up to 40 degrees from the perpendicular to the product pipes. Conventional pipe jacks can not operate under this geometry or lifting loads. To minimize stresses on the product pipes also required synchronous lifting of the lines from multiple supports.
The client required sufficient lift height for sandblasting, painting and installation of custom wear pads to prevent future corrosion.
Solution & Outcome
The mechanical contractor contacted Ovolifts on a Friday, and by the following Wednesday the lifting frame was engineered and fabrication drawings generated. Two days later the lifting frame was fabricated and the very next day the tools and frames arrived on site. Lifting began one day later after training of the contractor staff.
The lifting frame squared the jacks to the product pipe and equalized the lifting loads on each jack. In other applications this frame could enable lifting of pipes with extended shoes. Erection of the frame on a support, including installation of the jacks was accomplished in 15 minutes.
Deployed were two configurations of Ovolifts’ Multi-Jacks, each with a 10 ton Working Load Limit.
The pipe bridge consisted of 7 supports so across the two pipes 14 touchpoints were lifted, sandblasted and coated with epoxy to prevent future corrosion. Corrosion mitigation pads were also installed at all locations to break the metal-to-metal contact and reduce water accumulation.
