Construction in Saxony is proceeding as scheduled – Completion of the gas pipeline scheduled for 2019
Coswig / Kassel. “We are faced with a very special challenge today here in Coswig – we are crossing the Elbe with our pipeline,” explains Ioannis Plakidis-Adamer, EUGAL construction manager and responsible for the site. “A team of 50 construction workers has worked for more than two months to make this step possible.”
“We are pulling a 230-meter-long and 900-tonnes-heavy welded pipeline section through the Elbe with the help of a cable winch,” says Plakidis-Adamer. A trench about five metres deep was dug in the river for this purpose. After the section is pulled into the trench it will be filled up again. The pipeline then lies 2.50-meter-deep under the riverbed of the Elbe.
The pipeline itself has a circumference of 1.40 meters and is additionally encased in concrete in the Elbe segment. Shipping will continue as usual after completion of the construction. Utilized areas are returned to their original state.
“The crossing of the Elbe is an important step in the pipeline’s construction in Saxony,“ explains EUGAL project manager Ludger Hümbs. Since the pipeline was approved in September, construction has been ongoing. The section in Saxony is about 106 kilometers long. At the moment, about 44 kilometers of topsoil have been extracted in Saxony, while twelve kilometers of pipeline have been welded and seven kilometers of pipes have already been lowered into the ground. Construction work on the pipeline is scheduled to be completed in Saxony by the end of 2019.
Hümbs briefly summarizes the motivation behind EUGAL. “Our own gas production in Europe is decreasing, while the need for gas imports is rising.” The European network development plan estimates import requirements of up to 183 billion m³ of gas in 2035. “This is why we need EUGAL. Its connection to other pipelines allows it to transport gas flexibly – within Germany, to Western and South-Eastern Europe.” EUGAl will have an annual maximum transport capacity of 55 billion m³ of gas. By comparison, Germany requires around 85 billion m³ of gas per year.
EUGAl is a 480-kilometer-long gas pipeline which will stretch from the Baltic Sea through Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Brandenburg to the south of Saxony at the German-Czech border and largely consists of two parallel pipelines. In Saxony, EUGAl is being built with only one line and will run from Lampertswalde (district Meißen) southbound to Deutschneudorf (district Erzgebirge) at the German-Czech border. In addition, a gas export station with a gas pressure regulating and measuring system is planned in Deutschneudorf. With the construction of EUGAl, GASCADE reacts to the increasing demand for gas and gas transport in Europe.
GASCADE provides information about the project on the Internet site www.eugal.de.
