No pipe dream: Lifting and handling issues take on new proportions when the materials to be moved are oil and gas pipelines. Tom Shelley reports

摘要

Oil and gas pipelines could be built at up to five times the rate they are at present. This could be achieved with trains of tracked vehicles up to half a kilometre long, supported in remote and inaccessible areas by airships with lifting capacities of up to 300 tonnes. A fraction of the number of people would need to be accommodated on site and construction costs could be cut by up to 30%. While the development effort is global, the lead and much of the cleverest parts of the technology are British -and on a scale that Brunei would have beep proud of if he could have been around to take part in it.