Sarens conducts installation work at the REEF
0Sarens is honored to be involved in installation work at the Ridley Island Energy Export Facility (REEF), which will connect Canadian LPG to global markets.
Once complete, the facility will have a storage capacity of 600.000 barrels (approximately 48.700 tonnes) of propane and butane
Working with our client, Altagas, at the REEF facility near Prince Rupert, BC, the Sarens team has so far expertly offloaded and installed several components, including: 3 x 2.532-tonne LPG accumulators; 2 x 700-tonne LPG bullets; 122 pipe rack modules (85 transported via vessel and 37 via road).
Although this operation may appear straightforward on paper, Sarens has had to contend with several challenges along the way–not least of which has been the bracing, sub-arctic weather. Because the REEF site is just south of Alaska, bringing in equipment that had been manufactured outside of Canada is always a wager with the weather: with swells and waves often exceeding ten metres, average winter temperatures hovering at 3–4 °C, and a constant deluge of rain, our team has had to remain flexible.
Despite near-constant wet conditions, Sarens was able to conduct operations safely and professionally. The crew transported all equipment and modular pipe racks under the hook, jacked down the accumulators and bullets onto their foundations, and supported other heavy transport at the facility. To do it, we used 96 axle lines of SPMTs along with the CS 250 crane, all guided by Sarens’ world-class engineering and project management expertise.
The project highlights to date include: Transporting and installing LPG accumulators: Sarens transported each accumulator, measuring 27,5 metres wide and 36 metres tall, over three kilometres from the jetty to the final foundation. We jacked each down with a CS 250 and 16 jacks, lowering them 2,5 metres onto a sunken foundation with millimetre precision.
Transporting and installing jetty modules Span 1 & 2: A 13-span section pipeline is being built to connect super-tankers to the plant, and Sarens has successfully installed two of the spans: one weighing 400 tonnes and measuring 71 metres long, and another weighing 358 tonnes and measuring 66 metres long. The installation of Span 2 proved most complex: with no ship or shore crane able to reach it, Sarens devised a solution using 2 x 11 axle lines SPMTs placed onto the barge with a frame that could receive the span from the heavy lift vessel moored in deeper waters. With the barge positioned between the two foundations, the crew used a combination of the tide and SPMTs to carefully install the span onto its foundation–a challenging feat given the swell and roll of the barge! Span 1, on the other hand, was simply lifted straight from the vessel onto a double-15 configuration and transported 3km for crane pick-up and installation.
Transporting and installing LPG bullets: Sarens ensured that the 700-tonne, 62,5-metre long, and 8,7-metre high LPG bullets–which, due to their dimensions, overhung the vessel–were secured onto a 4,5-metre high grillage so they wouldn’t come into contact with the quayside during the tide cycle. The crew placed 2,9 metres of packing beneath three temporary saddles. As the bullets were offloaded from the vessel, they then jacked them down, transported them over 2 kilometres through a working container yard, and installed them onto their foundations.
We are proud of our work on this project and look forward to what’s next. Despite the challenges of a remote location, dynamic weather conditions, and exacting local manpower rules, we have successfully cleared every hurdle. Sarens has put together a robust Canadian team with senior supervisors from the UK, USA, and HQ, and succeeded in getting the equipment and personnel on-site on time, thanks to a heroic team effort from Sarens Projects US and Sarens Canada!
With our work at the site nearly complete, we look forward to receiving a final HLV along with two accumulators and 11 modules in the coming year. Ground work has already started on a facility expansion, which will call for another bullet and approximately 25 modules to be added in summer of 2026–as well as an additional accumulator in 2027.
Sarens is honored to be involved in installation work at the Ridley Island Energy Export Facility (REEF), which will connect Canadian LPG to global markets.
Once complete, the facility will have a storage capacity of 600.000 barrels (approximately 48.700 tonnes) of propane and butane
Working with our client, Altagas, at the REEF facility near Prince Rupert, BC, the Sarens team has so far expertly offloaded and installed several components, including: 3 x 2.532-tonne LPG accumulators; 2 x 700-tonne LPG bullets; 122 pipe rack modules (85 transported via vessel and 37 via road).
Although this operation may appear straightforward on paper, Sarens has had to contend with several challenges along the way–not least of which has been the bracing, sub-arctic weather. Because the REEF site is just south of Alaska, bringing in equipment that had been manufactured outside of Canada is always a wager with the weather: with swells and waves often exceeding ten metres, average winter temperatures hovering at 3–4 °C, and a constant deluge of rain, our team has had to remain flexible.
Despite near-constant wet conditions, Sarens was able to conduct operations safely and professionally. The crew transported all equipment and modular pipe racks under the hook, jacked down the accumulators and bullets onto their foundations, and supported other heavy transport at the facility. To do it, we used 96 axle lines of SPMTs along with the CS 250 crane, all guided by Sarens’ world-class engineering and project management expertise.
The project highlights to date include: Transporting and installing LPG accumulators: Sarens transported each accumulator, measuring 27,5 metres wide and 36 metres tall, over three kilometres from the jetty to the final foundation. We jacked each down with a CS 250 and 16 jacks, lowering them 2,5 metres onto a sunken foundation with millimetre precision.
Transporting and installing jetty modules Span 1 & 2: A 13-span section pipeline is being built to connect super-tankers to the plant, and Sarens has successfully installed two of the spans: one weighing 400 tonnes and measuring 71 metres long, and another weighing 358 tonnes and measuring 66 metres long. The installation of Span 2 proved most complex: with no ship or shore crane able to reach it, Sarens devised a solution using 2 x 11 axle lines SPMTs placed onto the barge with a frame that could receive the span from the heavy lift vessel moored in deeper waters. With the barge positioned between the two foundations, the crew used a combination of the tide and SPMTs to carefully install the span onto its foundation–a challenging feat given the swell and roll of the barge! Span 1, on the other hand, was simply lifted straight from the vessel onto a double-15 configuration and transported 3km for crane pick-up and installation.
Transporting and installing LPG bullets: Sarens ensured that the 700-tonne, 62,5-metre long, and 8,7-metre high LPG bullets–which, due to their dimensions, overhung the vessel–were secured onto a 4,5-metre high grillage so they wouldn’t come into contact with the quayside during the tide cycle. The crew placed 2,9 metres of packing beneath three temporary saddles. As the bullets were offloaded from the vessel, they then jacked them down, transported them over 2 kilometres through a working container yard, and installed them onto their foundations.
We are proud of our work on this project and look forward to what’s next. Despite the challenges of a remote location, dynamic weather conditions, and exacting local manpower rules, we have successfully cleared every hurdle. Sarens has put together a robust Canadian team with senior supervisors from the UK, USA, and HQ, and succeeded in getting the equipment and personnel on-site on time, thanks to a heroic team effort from Sarens Projects US and Sarens Canada!
With our work at the site nearly complete, we look forward to receiving a final HLV along with two accumulators and 11 modules in the coming year. Ground work has already started on a facility expansion, which will call for another bullet and approximately 25 modules to be added in summer of 2026–as well as an additional accumulator in 2027.