Commissioning a new gas pipeline between Poland and Slovakia
Two months before the contractual time limit and after obtaining the use permit, the gas pipeline between Strachocina and the Polish border was commissioned. It means that the construction of this section of the pipeline has been finished and that GAZ-SYSTEM SA, its operator, can start preparing it for exploitation.
Budimex and Mostostal Kraków formed a consortium to build this strategic high-pressure gas pipeline in Podkarpackie Province. The pipeline is an important element of a cross-system connection between Poland and Slovakia.
In August this year, the gas pipeline between Strachocina and the Polish border was connected with the pipeline in Slovakia using a ‘golden joint’. Welding work was performed by Budimex on the border between Poland and Slovakia. A month before the contractual time limit, i.e. on 22 September, the gas pipeline was commissioned. Then, from 11 to 14 October, Budimex filled the pipeline with gas.
The diameter of the gas pipeline is 1000 mm, its length is 61 km and its working pressure is 8.4 MPa. During the implementation, Budimex used trenchless technologies, such as: HDD (horizontal directional drilling) or microtunnelling. As part of this task, Budimex used 27,000 tonnes of steel, installed 390 km of micropiles to reinforce the ground in the area of the gas pipeline and moved 6,300 m3 of earth. The net value of the contract was PLN 521.48 million.
‘The purpose of the project was to construct a new gas pipeline to connect natural gas transmission systems in Poland and Slovakia. The gas pipeline between Strachocina and the Polish border, built by Budimex, is ready to be used by the Investor. The scale of the project is emphasised by the fact that over 100 subcontractors and about 1000 workers were needed to complete it’, says Piotr Świecki, Director of Energy and Industrial Construction at Budimex SA.
To finish the project, we still need to complete some tasks, for example securing watercourses, building forest roads, making drains, providing rip rap protection and restoring the site.
From a technical perspective, the gas pipeline is ready to convey gas. To complete the project, we still need to restore the site and hand over the plots of land to their owners. The final acceptance will follow tests carried out with Slovaks to confirm that the whole interconnector works properly.
‘This construction project was carried out in the toughest conditions due to the topography of the land, isolation from infrastructure and the weather from autumn to spring’, adds Piotr Świecki.
The gas pipeline route runs through the following communes: Sanok, Bukowsko and Komańcza in Podkarpackie Province. The construction of the gas pipeline between Poland and Slovakia, from July 2019, is a crucial element of the strategy adopted by Gaz-System due to the strategic importance of that pipeline, which connects natural gas transmission systems in Poland and Slovakia. Since 2020, Budimex has also been constructing another key section of the new gas pipeline: the 122-kilometre gas pipeline from Goleniów to Ciecierzyce.