Milestones
September 1994
An interim alliance was formed between the major players.
December 1994
The full alliance was formed and the project was sanctioned.
February 1995
The first sod was turned at Bunbury.
March 1995
The six month casting basin excavation at Bunbury is well underway, with excavation of 450,000 cubic metres of material. While 150,000 cubic metres was able to be used for hardstand areas and car parks on the site, the balance was used for a local landfill reclamation project.
December 1995
The CGS base is completed and storage cells begin to take shape after only four months of construction. At this point the CGS design was altered to allow a 33% oil storage capacity increase.
March 1996
The first two shafts of the CGS have reached the commencement of the “bulge” section where wall thickness changes as the geometry of both the inside and outside walls changes.
June 1996
A majority of topside assembly was completed at ground level. Flat panel assembly and substantial prefabrication was employed in the topside construction.
July 1996
The CGS shafts were topped out in May 1996 allowing electrical and mechanical fit out and installation of pipe work to progress.
August 1996
CGS construction completed, the controlled casting basin flooding begins.
September 1996
The tow of the CGS out of the casting basin begins. It took the CGS 24 days to reach its destination 75 kilometres north-west of Dampier.
September 1996
Strandjacks were used to raise the topside for placement onto a transport frame — put in place by the Asian Hercules.
October 1996
After being anchored into position the CGS installation sequence commenced by lowering one edge to the sea floor. Finally positioned, the tasks of adding 40,000 tonnes of rock ballast to open cells and rock armouring to prevent scouring of the base, were undertaken.
December 1996
Once on the transport frame, the topside was loaded onto the barge Ocean Orc for transport to the Wandoo site.
January 1997
The topside is guided into position over the CGS.
January 1997
A support leg is positioned over the CGS shaft prior to mating.
January 1997
Once the topside was in place on the CGS the barge and transport frame are towed clear.
March 1997
The drilling rig was repositioned over the topside to complete the well drilling Wandoo B begins to produce oil.
