A year into the project, 52 new Doosan excavators are now working on a section of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), involving the construction of about 360 km of pipeline in Greece.
In March 2016, a new company formed by Bonatti S.p.A. and J&P-Avax Group was awarded the EPC (Engineering, Procurement, Construction) contract for this section of the TAP Project. Following a competitive analysis of eight leading excavator manufacturers, Bonatti-J&P Avax s.r.l. chose the Doosan brand to provide the power and reliability required for the contract, purchasing 52 new Doosan crawler excavators
for the excavation work and for the laying of the 1,2 m diameter pipes in the project.
The Trans Adriatic Pipeline is the European leg of the Southern Gas Corridor, which aims to connect European markets to new gas sources in the Caspian basin. TAP is a joint venture of several energy companies and is one of the most strategic energy infrastructure projects in Europe. Involving an investment of €4,5-billion Euro and employing over 5 500 people, the TAP project will cross Greece and Albania from the Greece-Turkey border to the province of Lecce in Italy. TAP facilitates the transport of Caspian Sea area (Azerbaijan) natural gas to some of the largest European markets such as Germany, France, the UK, Switzerland and Austria.
Bonatti S.p.A. is an Italian company that is among the largest international pipeline contractors in the world, with a strong record of thousands of km of pipes laid around the world under the most critical environmental and logistical conditions, overcoming similar challenges to those posed by the TAP project, that will see the crossing of many roads and rivers along its path.
J&P-Avax Group is one of the largest construction groups in Greece, with extensive activities abroad. Listed on the main market of the Athens Exchange since 1994, J&P-Avax has extensive experience in oil and natural gas pipeline construction as well as LNG stations and thermal power plants.
The construction work required in the TAP project presents many challenges and to help in its execution, the joint venture has purchased 52 new Doosan crawler excavators from 30 to 55 tonne (comprising 10 DX300LC-5, 20 DX340LC-5, 10 DX380LC-5 and 12 DX530LC-5 models), based primarily on the productivity, ease of use and reliability that characterises the Doosan construction equipment range.
Main strengths of Doosan excavators
For several years now, Doosan has been one of the top five largest excavator manufacturers in the world. With the best price per tonne on the market, Doosan is today one of the world's leading players, with a range that offers high productivity, performance and comfort.
The Doosan DX530LC-5 53-tonne model has the widest undercarriage for this size of machine on the market. Thanks to the 3.9 m width of the undercarriage in the extended position, the DX530LC-5 has the best lifting capacity in its class. The largest excavators purchased by Bonatti-J&P Avax s.r.l., the 12 DX530LC-5 excavators have been equipped with a ‘mass excavation front’ short arm (2,4 m) and boom (6,3 m) providing an enhanced hydraulic performance for handling, with the vacuum lifters, the 14 tonne/18 m long steel pipes at full reach through 360° at the required heights and distances.
Doosan excavators are working hard in a range of different applications from preparatory work including grading, removing trees and site clearance, lifting gas pipes to lay them out or ‘string’ them, digging trenches using hydraulic breakers or buckets, to loading crushing and screening equipment to create backfill for the trenches that does not damage the pipes.
After six months on the project, the excavator operators have confirmed that the main advantages of the Doosan machines are the high digging forces, high traction forces and the high hydraulic output, providing very smooth, fast and precise responses. The operators have also appreciated the comfortable and user friendly cab; Doosan excavators have the biggest cab and one of the largest control panels on the market.
