The world's largest valve is due to be welded into the Europipe II gas trunkline during September.
Standing 10 metres high, this 95-tonne unit is designed for attachment to the 42-inch line currently being laid by Statoil from Kårstø north of Stavanger to Dornum on the coast of Germany.
"The valve will be installed on German soil and normally stand open," explains Statoil staff engineer Børge Brubæk. "Closing it will isolate the submarine line from the land system."
A total of 14 large valves are due to be delivered to Europipe II and Statoil's Åsgard Transport project.
Type approved to withstand a pressure of 250 bar, the present valve has taken a year to build at Italy's Petrovalves and will be operated by an electric motor. It arrived at Dornum on 28 August.
With a police escort throughout, the transport operation reached a maximum speed of 40 kilometres per hour and required the closure of the St Gottard tunnel in Switzerland for a whole night.