OREANDA-NEWS. February 4, 2009. Stroytransgaz has signed a master contract with Transneft for construction of a new section of the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean oil pipeline. The starting point is located 200 kilometers from Aldan in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).

The new section of the oil pipeline, which will run 32 kilometers and have a diameter of 1,220 millimeters, lies between the ESPO’s 1929th-kilometer and its 1961st-kilometer mark. The company has already obtained project documentation and begun mobilizing heavy construction equipment at the site where work will begin. Stroytransgaz will deliver the equipment from its other sites along the ESPO, a distance of up to 700 kilometers.

Geological conditions along the new section will complicate construction work. Due to rocky terrain, there will be a large amount of drilling and blasting (estimated at 180,000 square meters) and nearly 100,000 square meters of soft rock will have to be brought in. The route of the pipeline’s new section intersects the Tuolba River where the river’s shoreline dips 24 percent, making additional work necessary during construction of the underground passage.

To increase the pace and quality of construction work, the linear part of the new oil pipeline will be welded with a CRC-Evans automated welding unit.