The design for Drilling Centre 05 started in 2008 and will need to be completed by April 2009. DC05 consists of a sheetpile structure, backfilled with limestone quarry run and covered with pre-cast concrete elements, such as foundations and trenches. It also incorporates a berth for two Icebreaking Emergency Evacuation Vessels and floating Living Quarters. On the east and south side, rock breakwaters will protect the berth and quay from ice and waves.
Construction has started with placement of the rock fill just before the winter season (December - March) and will continue with installing the sheetpile retaining structures in April.
Engineering challenges are large ice loads on the retaining structures, a tight time schedule and the design of the point where connecting pipelines come ashore.

To further develop the oil fields in the North Caspian Sea Witteveen+Bos Kazakhstan will con-tinue with civil design activities for new islands. The designs for the hubs Complex A and D and drilling centre EPC3 are nearly complete, and drilling centre EPC2 is well under way.

Description of project

Both the D Complex as the new islands are designed by order of a consortium of Kazakh and western oil companies with the aim to explore the oil reservoirs present in the northern part of the Caspian Sea. Although the general concept for building islands in the Caspian Sea has crystallised in the course of the years, each new island has its own challenges. The limited water depth in combination with waves and down surge at the Aktote and Kairan location limits the accessibility of these locations for construction vessels. Therefore, a detailed construction plan is required to make construction feasible. Located in relatively deep water, accessibility is no issue at Kalamkas. However, the island’s height required in this water depth is just within limits for the preferred island perimeter of a vertical retaining wall. For future maintenance the wells of EPC02 and 03 have to be located within the reach of a drill rig mounted on a cantilever barge. Therefore the wells are placed close to the outer perimeter of the island which asks for a design providing full protection of the wells against ice loading and encroachment.
Whereas for previous islands offshore pipelines and umbilicals tied in on the island with S-curved lines placed inside rock embankments, new developments ask for J tubes and vertical risers. At one hand these vertical risers have to move freely to allow thermal expansion, at the other hand the ris-ers have to be well protected against the floating ice fields in the Caspian during winter time.
It is obvious that all these works will strengthen the co-operation between the Kazakh and Dutch design teams even further, which will have a significantly positive impact on the development of WBK’s offices in Kazakhstan to a full-grown engineering company and a professional employer for Kazakh staff.