HDDs in Norway
Mira IKS, a consortium in Norway, plans to link up several Norwegian municipalities to a new waste new water treatment plant to be built near the town of Sømersand. As part of this project, the Norwegian contractor has hired Visser & Smit Hanab to conduct four drilling operations at sites in Øya and Hammeren.
On 5 January, V&SH started drilling the first sections in Øya: one with a length of around 880 metres and a diameter of 315 mm and one with a length of 890 metres and a diameter of 355 mm. In mid-February, Visser & Smit Hanab will start drilling two more sections in Hammeren. At the sites, four pipes will be laid for transporting sewage and drinking water.
In mid-February Visser & Smit Hanab started with another two drilling operations between the municipalities of Sørumsand and Hammeren in Norway. The new pipelines, made of 450-mm-diameter HDPE pipe, will convey wastewater to a wastewater treatment plant that is being built.
The HDD operations here measured 1,284 metres, making them the longest drill holes ever installed in Norway. That gives V&SH the Norwegian record.
The project was completed without incident, with the sand and clay subsurface forming no problem for the 250-tonne rig. The climate, however, was challenging: working in the snow at -18 °C takes some getting used to. V&SH set up a tent over the drill rig and pipeline site to prevent freezing.
The project was delivered on time, to the customer's complete satisfaction.
