Gas to the West engineers are preparing to carry out a horizontal directional drill underneath Lough Erne to connect the Encirc glass factory in Derrylin to the gas network.
Construction work on the £250 million Gas to the West project has been underway in counties Fermanagh and Tyrone since October.
When completed, the project will allow for the natural gas network to be extend into the west of Northern Ireland.
The pipes photographed this week by John McVitty must pass under the water on either side of Transa Island, which is passable by vehicles travelling on the Newbridge Road via the Lady Craigavon and Lady Brooke bridges.
Project Manager Julia Deans explained that her team are based on the Derrylin side of the Lady Brooke Bridge (in a field just off the Ballyconnell Road). They will weld and pre-test the pipes. They will then drill across underneath the bedrock and come up where the drill stem is situated. They will then change the drill head for a pulling head. The pulling head will be welded onto the drill string and they will pull the pipe through the borehole.
“This is part of the intermediate pressure line which is coming from Fivemiletown across to Derrylin and up to Enniskillen,” explained Ms. Deans. “We will drill to Trasna Island and across to the other side,” she said.
She estimated that the drill will begin in the next three-four weeks and will take two weeks to complete.
“Derrylin should be connected by the end of the year,” Ms. Deans said.