The European Gas Pipeline Link (EUGAL) is a 485 km-long natural gas pipeline infrastructure. The EUGAL pipeline passes through the Baltic coast of Germany via Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and southern Saxony to the Czech Republic border. The pipeline connects with the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 Gas Pipelines at Lubmin; with the JAGAL Gas Pipeline at Kienbaum and with the Czech gas network at Deutschneudorf. However, the installation of the 485-kilometer-long pipeline did not come without its challenges.  

 Extreme pull forces needed 

German landscape in which the pipe was laid was extremely well suited for laying the pipe with the use of trenches. Two lots which were rewarded to the joint venture between Vorwerk, Denys and Anton Meyer however, had some challenges. Part of these challenges was caused by the Löcknitz, Oder-Spree-Wasserstraße and Müggelspree, which had to be crossed by means of horizontal drilling and micro tunneling. 

 During the drilling of the tunnel, the drillhead became stuck. Bezemer Dordrecht was asked to pull the drillhead out of the mud in order to proceed with tunnelling. A challenging project which required custom engineering and high pull forces in a short timeframe.   

 Custom made pullhead

To free the drillhead, our engineers assisted in the design, calculation and fabrication of a custom-made 1600T pull head, which would connect to the end of the pipeline. When the pull head was finished, our KTC 800, an 800 tonnes winch, was mobilised to the German woods, to pull the pipe and the connected pull head back out of the tunnel.  

 After completion of the pull, the linear winch was swiftly demobilised to ensure a fast restart of the tunnelling project.  

 Bezemer’s involvement in the EUGAL project shows the agility and effectiveness of linear winches. Bezemer Dordrecht’s team expertise successfully resolved the challenges faced during the construction of the EUGAL pipeline, ensuring that the project could quickly be resumed.