Lack of sufficient drinking water supplies on the central Danish island of Funen forced the local water authority Tre-For Water to import fresh water from mainland Jutland. At the chosen route, Funen is separated from Jutland by 1100 m of water called Lillebaelt (~Little Belt).

NOV’s AQFlex design is approved for drinking water applications by Danish, English and Scottish Authorities.

The installation route passes just south of the bridge as shown on the picture. The bridge pillars in combination with the strong current created challenging seabed phenomena due to which a post-installation trenching of the pipeline at 43 m deep sea level was required.

The project specifies a 1.2 km long pipeline with an internal diameter of 200 mm and a high-pressure steel-reinforced plastic liner that is approved for drinking water. The pipe has been fabricated in a single continuous section, thereby avoiding below-water connection joint.

The installation project startet in the beginning of October 2005 with transfer of the pipeline to the installation ship, after which the pipeline was sailed to Lyngsodde south of Fredericia where the actual laying began a few days later. The pipeline was trenched 1.5 m below the sea bed which will protect it and prevent it from interfering with shipping.