1. High Risk Due to Complex and Soft Geological Strata: The complex strata consist of sandy clay and gravel, with poor soil cohesion. During the rainy season, the soil becomes saturated and softened, making borehole collapse and diameter reduction highly likely. Traditional construction techniques are prone to borehole failure.
2. Stringent Accuracy Requirements for Highway Crossing: Existing municipal pipelines and communication cables lie beneath the pipeline, resulting in extremely low tolerance for trajectory errors. Excessive deviation could lead to pipeline collisions and road surface settlement, posing safety hazards.
3. Zero-Destruction Construction Requirements: Excavation and large-scale land occupation are strictly prohibited throughout the entire process. The protection of native tropical rainforest vegetation and roadbed structure must be maximized.
4. Tropical Climate Limitations: Frequent short-term torrential rains can easily lead to mud mix imbalances and borehole wall instability due to soaking. The construction window is short, resulting in significant time pressure.
Equipment Selection & Solutions: The project utilizes a large-tonnage heavy-duty horizontal directional drilling rig. A complete trenchless construction solution is customized for the local geology and climate of Malaysia:
1. Equipped with a high-precision underground guidance and positioning system, it monitors the drill bit attitude, drilling depth, and horizontal trajectory in real time throughout the process, dynamically correcting the drilling angle and strictly controlling trajectory deviation.
2. A graded progressive borehole enlargement process is adopted, gradually enlarging the borehole from a small diameter to the final diameter. This is combined with a special mud formula adapted to soft soil layers to enhance borehole wall consolidation and completely solve the problem of borehole collapse in sand and clay layers.
3. Optimize the construction scheduling mechanism to avoid peak rainfall periods, and ensure proper mud recovery and seepage prevention to achieve zero mud spillage and zero environmental pollution.
4. Equipped with a stable hydraulic power system, the equipment is suitable for continuous operation in tropical high temperatures, and operates without overheating or malfunctions during long-term high-load construction, ensuring efficient progress on schedule.
Project Achievements: This high-speed natural gas pipeline crossing project achieved successful guidance, borehole enlargement, and pipeline pullback in a single operation, with no borehole collapse, no stuck drill bit, no road surface damage, and no roadbed settlement throughout the entire process. The final pipeline trajectory deviation was strictly controlled within the high industry standards, and the pipeline was laid smoothly with satisfactory sealing performance, fully meeting Malaysian national oil safety operation standards.
The project successfully passed the joint acceptance inspection by the owner, road administration, and environmental protection departments. With stable equipment performance and professional construction solutions, our company has gained long-term recognition from local general contractors.
