Iberdrola Water Intake

The construction of 6,800 meters pipe intake for a power plant in Qatar was carried out in 2009.

The construction of 6,800 meters pipe intake for a power plant in Qatar was carried out by MT Højgaard in 2009.

The project comprised the laying of a pipe with a diameter of 1,800 mm reaching from the Persian Gulf to the power plant. 1.8 km of the pipe was carried out offshore and dug into the sea bed using different types of fleet vessels and equipment.  4.4 km of the pipe had to be dug conventionally while the final 600 meters was carried out by tunnelling from deep vertical shafts - similar to the Metro Project in Copenhagen.

Challenges of the project

The construction of the intake was very challenging because blasting, among other things, is not allowed in Qatar due to natural gasses in the subsoil. Furthermore the ground-water table is only one meter below ground level and the temperature during the day in June, July and August often reaches 40-50° C.