Main water pipe as long as a marathon

The new main water pipe will provide supplies of water to the Stavanger region in the future. The client, IVAR (the inter-municipal water, sewerage and waste disposal agency), supplies drinking water and treats the waste water for its owner municipalities in the region.

Preliminary estimates of the length of the main pipe that COWI is planning look likely to come out at around 40 kilometres, and will probably include 10-12 valve chambers and a control basin.
That is almost as long as an Olympic marathon race.
The water pipe will be able to handle up to 3,300 litres/second, equivalent to 3.5 times the volume of the Royal Albert Hall every day.

The new main water pipe is being constructed to maintain water supplies to the owner municipalities, and will be laid to the west of the existing main water pipe.
Together with the existing pipe, it will form a ring main to maintain water supplies in the event of a rupture or planned maintenance in the pipe network.

The project also includes undersea pipes, so two of COWI’s engineer-divers will be involved in the job.