A GIGANTIC 24,000 tonne megastructure from the early days of Britain’s oil and gas industry is on its way to the North-East.

An ambitious project to decommission a field of oil rigs in the North Sea has seen the extraction of the Brent Delta platform from its concrete legs that have stood 115 miles east of Shetland since 1976.

The Northern Echo:

The Delta topside being positioned for removal. Picture: ALL SEAS

The 130m-high “topside” structure from the Shell UK-operated oilfield is now being transported to Hartlepool before moving on to the River Tees to be recycled in a Teesside port.

Only an equally enormous feat of engineering was deemed capable of lifting the rig platform in one piece with the world’s largest ship – the £2.5bn Pioneering Spirit – taking on the task.

The 1,253 metre-long vessel designed specifically for single-lift installation and removal of large oil and gas platforms was due to arrive at a point six miles off the coast of Hartlepool last night.

Brent Delta’s topside will be transferred to another impressive Allseas barge depending on weather conditions and tide times.

The transfer will take place during the daytime and should be visible from the Hartlepool Headland before the Iron Lady barge transports the structure into the River Tees and to Able Seaton Port.

Peter Stephenson, Able’s executive chairman, said: “The arrival of the Brent Delta Topside will represent a significant development for the entire decommissioning sector and is the culmination of a long and detailed process that has involved a wide range of partners.

“For our part, we have invested circa £28m in developing a new heavy-duty specialist quay to receive these types of structures.

“The arrival itself should certainly provide fellow Teessiders with an impressive spectacle.

“Of course the topside will not be a permanent feature and our ultimate aim is to recycle over 98 per cent of the structure, a process that should be completed within the next 12 months.”

Pioneering Spirit set a world record by lifting the 24,200 tonne topside piece from its three supporting legs on Friday night.

The Brent Delta was one of four platforms built off the coast of Shetland to form the Brent field with the sites collectively producing more than half a million barrels of oil per day at their peak in 1982.

The field underwent a £1.3bn upgrade project in the mid-1990s to extend is original 25-year predicted lifespan.

However, rig owners Shell decided to begin decommissioning the field in 2006 with all four platforms in the process of being removed to shore and recycled.

Brent Delta will be broken down at the 126 acre Able Seaton Port site in Hartlepool, where oil and gas platforms have been recycled since 1985, including the Brent project since 2015.