In much of the Delta, swamp work has a window. From December to March, water levels drop, creeks narrow and buggies can reach locations that are boat-only the rest of the year. Miss the window and a job waits twelve months.
We plan these jobs backwards. The fixed date is the end of access, usually around the first heavy rains. Every activity is scheduled back from there, with float built in at the start, not the end.
Materials are staged at Onne and Warri before the window opens, pre-coated and in double joints where possible. Camps move with the work on accommodation barges, so crews do not lose hours travelling.
And we watch the weather daily. Our operations desk tracks rainfall upstream, because the creek rises from rain that falls far away, days before it reaches the job.