Tesmec Continues to supply Large Trenchers on Saudi Arabia’s Master Gas System Expansion Phase III

Following the delivery of two 1875XL EVO trenchers for Package 4 and Package 5, Tesmec is currently commissioning an additional unit on Package 5. The 1875XL EVO is a 176,900 kg-class chain trencher capable of excavating trenches up to 213 cm wide, meeting the requirements for 56-inch pipelines, the largest diameters currently used in pipeline construction.

No other trencher available on the market offers comparable trenching capacity. This application requires a 213 cm-wide trench to be excavated through rock within an active corridor containing operational pipelines. In such conditions, large trenchers deliver high productivity, rapid execution, and excavated material ideally suited for the on-site production of bedding and padding sand.

Furthermore, the trenching process eliminates the ground vibrations associated with blasting or hydraulic hammering, significantly reducing the risk of damage to adjacent infrastructure. Tesmec has supplied 1875XL EVO chain trenchers and other smaller trenchers to contractors involved in the Master Gas System Expansion project in Saudi Arabia, one of the Kingdom’s largest gas infrastructure programmes, developed in accordance with Saudi Aramco specifications. Since the start of operations on these packages, where the trenchers have been working predominantly in rocky ground conditions, they have achieved an average production rate of 64 linear metres per hour of specification-compliant trench while maintaining 97% availability, demonstrating outstanding productivity and reliability in challenging environments and hard rock formations.

The results achieved on these major projects further confirm the key role of Tesmec trenching technology in supporting the construction of large-diameter pipelines across the region.

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