Cork to Dublin Gas Pipeline

The 138-mile Cork to Dublin pipeline was Ireland's longest pipeline at the time, transporting gas from the Kinsale Field, 27 miles off the country's southern coast, to the city of Dublin. Fluor was responsible for the design, engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning and overall project management.

The 18-inch diameter line carried 150 million standard cubic feet per day of gas from the reservoir at 1,000 pounds per square inch. The gas flowed through a submarine pipeline from two production platforms and came ashore near Cork Harbor.

Client's Challenge

The Republic of Ireland's Department of Energy sanctioned this capital investment to take advantage of the available offshore energy resources in the Kinsale Field. The Kinsale Field has reserves of some 1.3 trillion cubic feet of gas and lies in 310 feet of water. It was estimated that in-place reserves would provide Ireland with a major energy source for the next 25 years.

Fluor's Solution

The Fluor-led joint venture supervised the entire project from design through commissioning. Construction of the line required 18,000 39-foot sections of pipe. After being corrosion-coated at Cork Harbor, the pipe was trucked to the site and installed at a rate of one mile per day using a single-spread welding operation.

Conclusion

Completion of the Cork to Dublin pipeline was the first phase in a program that would extend the line to other parts of Ireland.