In the Italian Mediterranean Sea, a former liquefied gas tanker is installed as a permanent marine terminal 22.5 kilometers off the coast from the Tuscan city of Livorno. The plan is that cargo ships dock here in the future to supply LNG - Liquefied Natural Gas. LNG only has a 600th of the volume of natural gas and can be shipped in a space-saving manner. The gas will then be regasified at the new terminal and transported as natural gas via pipelines to the mainland and into the distribution network.
The challenge: the first pipeline kilometers from the Port of Livorno must be installed beneath the Canal of Navicelli, among other things, because of space constraints. The solution: trenchless mechanized tunnelling is the right choice to keep earth works to a minimum and ensure safe tunnelling at the same time. Five AVN machines from Herrenknecht - precisely navigated using a VMT system - will install a concrete tube with varying diameters over the total length which will later on accommodate the 800-mm steel pipeline. The automatic bentonite lubrication system was mixed with a special additive to counteract salt water influences.
