Surerus Murphy Joint Venture (SMJV) was contracted by TC Energy to act as prime contractor for the construction of the North Montney Mainline (NMML) Spread 1 project. Located in British Columbia’s Peace River Regional District, the North Montney Mainline (NMML) will generate long-term economic benefits for the province and Canada.
The Project consists of a 206km (128), 42-inch pipeline, two compressor stations, and 14-meter stations. It will begin at the northern point of the existing Saturn section of the Groundbirch and terminate at the Blair Creek Receipt Meter Station.
The Project will provide the critical natural gas transmission infrastructure required to connect natural gas producers and downstream markets throughout Canada and the United States, generating jobs and tax revenues for hospitals, schools and more in some of the B.C.’s more remote communities.
SMJV was awarded just over 52km of the project, located at the southern end of the mainline.
The project commenced on August 13, 2018 and was confirmed as substantially complete on February 15, 2020
The key challenges associated with spread one were the major trenchless crossings (1 major Horizontal Directional Drill (HDD) and 2 Direct Pipe Installations (DPI)), the
logistics of the project and over 13km of the project being located in an extremely important area of culturally sensitive land known as the Peace Moberly Tract (PMT).
Trenchless crossings – SMJV engaged with industry specialists to plan and execute these works. The HDD consisted of a 1707m crossing under the Peace River and is recognized as one of the largest crossings of this type to be undertaken in Canada.
Two other crossings were undertaken using DPI which is a relatively new technology in this industry. Lessons learnt from the initial crossing were embedded into the second crossing leading to an extremely successful delivery and supported the entry of a new contractor into the market.
Logistics and the potential risk with driving was addressed from the onset of the project with driving assessments, traffic management planning and logistics planning. SMJV used three office locations on the project to minimize travel time utilizing busses where possible to ensure our workforce’s time driving was minimized.
Planning the works through the PMT was an ongoing process which started years before the project was award by TC Energy and continued throughout the project in a joint effort by TC Energy & SMJV along with the local indigenous communities impacted by the project.
SMJV’s scope of work included one major HDD, two DPI’s, four Horizontal Directional Bores (HDB’s) and 15 auger bores / hammer bores ensuring that the impact to the local infrastructure and environment was kept to a minimum.
The pipeline traversed three major steep slopes totaling over 2600m of the route. In addition, there were multiple wetlands, watercourses and environmentally sensitive areas to plan and execute.
