First Batch of Line Bends Ready to Dispatch

Nothing spells actual start of a pipeline project like the fresh production of the first batch of hard steel pipes. Following TAP’s contract award for 270km onshore line pipes and bends to Salzgitter Mannesmann International, the first 130 pieces of 48" induction bends have already been produced! 

Once the Manufacturing Procedure Qualification Test (MPQT) has been completed, the coating process will begin. When this process is finished, the bends will then be transported to the project marshalling yards in Kavala and Thessaloniki in Greece and Dürres in Albania in the spring of 2016. Finally, the bends will be installed along the pipeline route, during project construction, which will begin mid-2016.

Induction bending is a controlled means of bending pipes through the application of local heating using high frequency induced electrical power. TAP’s induction bends have been custom-made to multiple angles to allow pipeline changes of direction both vertically and horizontally.

Line pipe production has also started in December 2015.