Protection for pipeline

Press, 2 May 1985, Page 17

Protection for pipeline

PA Wellington Costs of new maintenance work on the Maui gas offshore pipeline would not be passed on to consumers, said the chairman of the Maui Development Board, Mr Ben Barnes, yesterday. Five overseas companies have tendered for a contract to lay a gravel berm, or layer, on 3.5 km of pipes on the seafloor off Opunake

in south Taranaki.

This stretch of pipeline runs through an area of boulders which might move in a bad storm, damaging the pipes. Until now, the pipes have been maintained by a team of divers, but Mr Barnes said the new technique would be more efficient. “The work is not urgent; it is something that has been looked at for some

time now. “We don’t need it to hold the pipes together or anything, it is just something we are doing.”

Mr Barnes said the expected cost of the work was confidential, but it would all be met by the Maui partners.

A decision on the tenders is expected within the next few weeks.