stations, CMT and associated equipment along the length of the
pipeline; however the conditions we worked in were anything
but routine.
“Although the pipeline was built relatively recently, these
assets require regular, thorough inspections and considering the
terrain, was an enormous challenge.”
Steve Holmes, Business Development Manager at EA
Technology, adds: “Much of what we were doing was checking
the earthing – the safety, the lightning protection and possible
transients on the network. Everything on the pipeline needs to be
correctly earthed, and there really is a skill to doing this properly.
“The pipeline goes through landscapes that – in every sense
of the word – broke new territory for EA Technology. It was a
hugely exciting yet challenging experience for the team members
individually and the company as a whole.”
The team’s itinerary along the length of the pipeline were
four pump stations, two intermediate pigging stations, 51 block
valve stations and the Ceyhan Marine Terminal (CMT).
The testing specification for each site was extensive,
consisting of: earth resistance measurement; soil resistivity
measurement; full earthing analysis; fence earthing survey;
earthing system continuity and integrity survey; touch, step and
transfer voltages; lightning systems survey; and a partial discharge
test of the MV equipment at every location.
Erzurum
In November the journey began in Erzurum, a city in eastern
Turkey, but the weather soon got the better of the team and
the trip was unexpectedly postponed after several feet of snow
blocked them into their accommodation.
Peter said: “Temperatures in Erzurum during the winter
are astonishingly cold. It dropped well below freezing and we
actually woke up one morning with 5 ft of fresh snow outside
our door. It was simply impossible to work in.”
The project was resumed in March, when the team flew to
Adana to begin their inspection of the Ceyhan Marine Terminal,
close to the Syrian border. Having been caught out in the severe
snow of Erzurum, a thorough logistical plan for the project had
to be put in place for the safe transportation of staff across the
country.
Peter said: “We had to chase the cooler weather. The
temperatures in Ceyhan in March were 35 - 38 °C and at the peak
of summer will get up to 50 °C. Wearing full fireproof clothing
during temperatures like that would have been very difficult.
“We had over 1000 km of land to drive across and were only
permitted, for safety reasons, to travel through daylight. Some
roads were incredibly rough, dirt tracks, so travelling through the
dark would have been very dangerous.
“The nature of our work meant that we could only work from
March to August, due to the severity of the winters and the fact
that we were following the milder weather north.”
Ceyhan Marine Terminal
Work at the CMT had its own issues to tackle, the main one
being the length. At over 2 km long, the safety and logistics of
undertaking earthing and lightning protection surveys along the
length of the jetty took hours of planning to ensure efficient and
accurate measurements were completed safely (Figure 1).
Ramiz Ahmed, EA Technology’s Project Manager on the task,
said: “One of the things that probably surprised me the most
along the way was the huge diversity in both the landscape,
which ranged from the flat, hot Mediterranean cities, through to
vast mountainous regions which were sparsely populated with
traditional farmers using horse and carts.”
Sivas
The team left the Ceyhan area and headed north, stopping at
block valve terminals along the way to then survey the next
pump station at Sivas.
Sivas is 1278 m (4193 ft) above sea level and the seat of the
Sivas Province in central Turkey. The work in Sivas presented
unique health and safety challenges.
Peter said: “The field work we did in Sivas presented the
highest risks. The land we were surveying was rife with ticks and
snakes. One tick we were warned about in particular was one
which gives you Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, which if
caught is incurable and has a fatality rate of up to 40%.”
Snakes also proved to be a hazard for the team. Steve said:
“One member of the team actually got bitten on the foot by an
extremely venomous snake.
“Thankfully it only penetrated the safety boot and not
the engineer’s skin, but in any case the health and safety team
were incredibly efficient and had everything ready in case the
worst had happened. Despite it being quite a scary near-miss
the response was such that we all felt very reassured about the
people we had with us and the systems that had been put in
place.”
Peter added: “The health and safety training given to the
EA Technology team by the BTC Pipeline Co. left no stone
unturned. The engineers and staff we had with us were incredibly
supportive, and at every stage of the journey we were prepared
for the terrain and the associated risks (Figure 2).
“During the time in Sivas we were paired up and kitted out
in specialist clothing that included long white socks, so that
should a tick jump onto us it could be easily spotted. Thanks to
Figure 2.
Ian Holmes, EA Technology, ensures all the correct
safety forms are filled in. ©Peter Brookman.
28
World Pipelines
/
SEPTEMBER 2014
