Two compressors from Atlas Copco, a leading Swedish manufacturer of compressors, are playing a key role in Turkey’s ambitious Greater Melen water pipeline project, where they are being used by local contractors Alke and Atac to provide compressed air for drilling operations close to the village of Ornek.

The contractors have connected two Atlas Copco portable compressors to shotcreting and drilling machines via 50-m-long pipes supplying 430 litres of air per second. Also operating on this section of the project are two Atlas Copco GA55 electrical compressors supplying air for hand-held drills near to the tunnel entrances.
“Most of the route taken by the pipeline is relatively flat and only requires an earthmoving operation to dig a three-metre-deep trench,” says a spokesman for the contractors. “But close to the village of Ornek, the topography becomes hilly and a 4.8 km-long tunnel is being constructed for the pipeline.”
“The tunnel has a height of 5.2 m and is 4.6 m wide, while the pipe itself has a diameter of 2,500 mm. Two shafts with depths of 35 m have been dug at opposite sides of the village for the supply of equipment and for taking spoil out of the tunnel. At both shaft entrances, the contractor has placed an Atlas Copco XA430 portable compressor working at seven bar to supply air power for shotcreting operations and drilling.
“Because of the length of the tunnels, it was necessary to dig two shafts for overburden and spoil removal as well as to act at ventilation shafts,” says the spokesman.
With the population of Istanbul estimated to rise by over 16 million people during the next 40 years the need of a new drinking water supply has been felt. Once complete, the Greater Melen water project will supply Istanbul with an extra billion litres of water annually from the side of the Bosphorus. Seven contracts have been awarded for the construction of the pipeline, which will start at the Melen River reservoir – 50 km east of Istanbul – and go under the Bosphorus, and end at the suburb of Kagithane, on the European side.
“The scope of works of the project includes a 70 km-long pipeline (including the 4.1 km long tunnel beneath the Bosphorus) from the Melen River reservoir – on the Asia Minor shore of Turkey – connecting with the Istanbul suburbs on the opposite bank of the Bosphorus,” he says.
“One of the seven contracts for the project has been awarded to Alke and Atac, who in a joint venture are responsible for a 10 km-long section on the Asian side. The section includes five km of trenched pipeline and a 4.8 km-long tunnel beneath the village of Ornek.
The joint venture  has also been awarded a sub-unit contract for the construction of a 2.5 km-long tunnel for the pipeline, between Ayozoga and Kagithane. This tunnel is yet to begin, but the contractors say construction will follow similar lines with at least two Atlas Copco portable compressors being needed.
Atlas Copco is a Sweden-based international industrial group with its head office in Stockholm. In 2002, the group had revenues of close to $6.38 billion, with 98 per cent of revenues outside Sweden, and about 26,000 employees.
The group produces and markets compressed air equipment and generators, construction and mining equipment, electric and pneumatic tools, and assembly systems and offers related service and equipment rental. The Atlas Copco Group includes famous brands such as Atlas Copco, RSC, Milwaukee Electric Tool, Chicago Pneumatic, and AEG Power Tools.