Seismic Survey nearing completion
Wednesday, 6 January 2010
PEOPLE in the Larne area may have noticed some rather unusual lorries travelling slowly along the roads recently. These are part of the seismic survey being carried out across agricultural land by a consortium comprising of BGE (Northern Ireland) and Storengy.
The lorries, known as vibroseis vehicles, travel in a convoy of three along some of the main roads where the survey is taking place.
They stop every 10 m (33 feet) and a metal plate is lowered to the ground where it vibrates sending sound waves into the earth, which are monitored in a nearby recording unit. While these machines are in use, localised traffic management is carried out in the area.
The purpose of the survey is to determine if there are suitable salt layers deep underground which may be used in the future for natural gas storage.
Following public exhibitions in June and September, a highly trained team from IMC Geophysical International Ltd, who were awarded the contract, started work on the project. The seismic survey is due to be completed in mid January following which there will be a lengthy period of analysis.
Part of the survey requires holes 8 cm (3 inches) in diameter to be drilled at 40 m (131 feet) intervals on farm land until the basalt layer is reached, which in some cases was around 15 m (49 feet). This part of the project was subcontracted to local company Glover Site Investigations Ltd based in Ballymoney.
In two months, their team drilled around 1750 holes which were then temporarily cased using plastic piping which was cut flush with the ground surface and plugged.
Although the total length of the survey extends to 70 kms, this is over a relatively small area of land as a number of the survey lines are parallel to each other.
Speaking on behalf of the consortium, BGE project manager Henry Smyth said, "I would like to thank all the local landowners who have been extremely supportive of this project.
“With the help of our two Agricultural Liaison Officers, we have gained the permission of more than 220 landowners to cross their ground and carry out this survey.
“Although there have been some periods of wet weather, the work has so far all been carried out on time, which would not have been possible without the co-operation and patience of all those in the survey area."
At the peak of the project, more than 50 people were working on the survey, which in turn provided a welcome boost for the local economy with local guest houses, hotels, shops and cafes all benefiting.
Further information on the seismic survey can be found on the project website www.northeaststorage.com.
Subscribe to read full newspaper »
Send to a friend
Please complete the following form to inform a friend about this page.
