Construction difficulties and technical innovation of the Myanmar-China Oil and Gas Pipeline

The Myanmar-China Oil and Gas Pipeline is the most challenging project in China now, its routing is severely restricted by the local geographic and social environments. Along the pipeline, there are adverse topography characteristics which is called "three highs and four actives" being its high earthquake frequency, high earthquake intensity and undulate terrain. It is also the first project in China that nature gas, crude oil and refined oil long-distance pipelines are laid in parallel. The pipeline is often constructed crossing the mountains via tunnels and rivers via bridging. Against the problems in pipeline construction, a number of technical improvements and innovations are incorporated into the design of parallel pipeline arrangement, bridging, tunnel, station/terminal combination, geological disaster prevention, anti-seismic and etc., which triggered the pipeline design to a higher level in China.