CAMISEA PROJECT

Location: Southern Peru

Client: Transportadora de Gas Peru (TGP)

Objective: Assist in establishing erosion control specifications, standards and to audit the
application of the standards.

The Camisea project is a major development being built to transport natural gas and gas liquids to the Peruvian coast from the Urubamba River in the upper central Amazon region. Two lines have been installed, a 32”inch pipeline delivering natural gas to Lima and a 14”liquids line terminating at Pisco on the Pacific coast. The total line length to Lima is more than 700 km. The line traverses extremely rugged terrain in the jungle and high sierra crossing the Andes at elevations of up to 4500m. Rainfall in the jungle area is very high. The underlying bedrock in the approximately 200km long jungle portion of the route is predominantly highly weathered mudstone, siltstone and sandstone, and is so soft that it can be trenched using an excavator. Most soils are lateritic with high clay and silt content.

Terra Erosion Control and associates were retained to help establish erosion control specifications and standards to be used in the construction and restoration phase of the project, to audit the application of the standards, and to provide instruction and assistance to TGP construction compliance inspectors and the major pipeline contractor. Most of the field work was in the jungle portion of the route where there were significant erosion and instability problems. In the jungle areas, trials were established utilizing biotechnical slope stabilisation techniques to stabilise fill slopes and shallow landslides. A list of species suitable for biotechnical work was developed by a team of field practitioners working with TGP with the help of local native (Matsiguenka) plant specialists. Woody species used included; Gynerium sp., Tabebuia rosea, Chorisia insignis, Erythrina falcata, which were utilised in a variety of brush layers, fascines and live staking techniques. Nursery establishment was begun to provide stock for the final restoration phase. A seed-collecting program was also established for native grasses and legumes to be used during the various restoration phases of the project.