The Great Man Made River Project
13 feet diameter pipeline that runs through the Sahara Desert
PPIC and client testing equipment in water
Pipe Diameter: 63”, 79”,110”,157”
Pipe Type: PCCP
Distance Inspected: 1.000 miles and over
Service: PipeWalker™- Remote Field Transformer Coupling (RFTC)
The world’s largest single PCP project is North Africa’s Great Man Made River (GMRA). GMRA supplies water from the world’s largest well fields to some of its biggest reservoirs. The water they deliver is conveyed from aquifers in the middle of the African desert to the coast in 160” diameter PCP pipes. The main conveyance network is 2,175 miles in length and utilizes almost half a million individual pipe sections to transport 5,250 feet of water per day.
GMRA has been using the Remote Field Transformer Coupling (RFTC) technology to provide pipeline condition assessment information since April of 2000. In order to assist GMRA in maintaining the long-term viability of the pipeline, PPIC conducted a baseline condition assessment survey of over 1,000 miles of transmission main.
The results of this study formed the basis for a pipeline rehabilitation program. As a result of the data provided by the RFTC inspection system, GMRA has replaced over 7,000 individual pipes, dramatically improving the integrity of the asset.
Through its relationship with PPIC, GMRA has developed a cost-minimization methodology that has extended the safe and economic life of its assets—effectively managing the inherent risks of operating the world’s largest PCCP pipeline.