i-Trencher Success For EB

September 2007

The latest addition to The Engineering Business (EB) project portfolio is the 85 tonne i-Trencher being designed and built for Canyon Offshore, for high performance trenching in hard soil and deep waters.

"The i-Trencher is the culmination of years of work by the team, and brings together decades of experience dating right back to the very first subsea trenchers used in the North Sea. The project has also benefited from direct input from the operators at Canyon Offshore and their customers Subsea 7," explains Dr Tim Grinsted, technical director of EB.

The new trencher is designed to reliably outperform existing trenching systems and can excavate a 2m deep trench using twin chain cutters. It is fitted with four heavy duty dredge pumps to remove spoil from the trench and can also be fitted with jetting swords if operating in appropriate soil conditions.

As a self-propelled machine, the i-Trencher is ideal for infield work and tie backs (a feature of the North Sea) and will be supplied with an advanced EB handling system to allow safe launch and recovery in Sea State 5 conditions.

i-Trencher will be assembled and tested at EB's Hadrian Riverside yard facility and is due for delivery Q1 2008. It will be mobilised directly onto Canyon's support vessel and then will complete a series of sea trials before going into service for Subsea 7.

EB's unprecedented growth
EB has an unprecedented amount of new work on a number of projects for delivery in 2008 and 2009. They are designing and constructing four major systems, including the i-Trencher, with a total value of about £50m over the next two years. These contracts will see them delivering some 4,500 tonnes of new equipment.

The contract wins have seen EB expanding on a number of fronts. They have been actively recruiting and now have 150 people working at the company, predominantly graduate professional engineers. EB now operates from three sites, their headquarters at Broomhaugh House in Riding Mill, Northumberland; Stocksfield Hall, a new office for 75 people just two miles away from their H/Q; and Hadrian Riverside where they lease 65,000ft² of workshop with large cranes, large doors and direct access to the Tyne for the shipping of large items. A major upgrade has recently been undertaken at the Hadrian Riverside site with a new 40 tonne crane, a machine shop and hydraulic and electrical clean rooms.