An experimental study on reduced scale models of the PE-3 pipeline, built in Guanabara Bay in 2003, is described in this work. The main characteristic of the PE-3 pipeline is the zig-zag geometry. This pipeline has an external diameter of 18 and is used to transport heavy heated oil from the Duque de Caxias refinary to a shipping terminal. The present study was carried out in reduced models with physic similitude, and the objective is to evaluate experimentally the behavior of the model, varying the zig-zag angle and the length of the pipeline. The models were submitted to temperature variation, internal pressure and different conditions of lateral and longitudinal support, simulating the real working conditions of the prototype. For each length (12m, 16m and 18m) and zig-zag angle (5°, 10° and 15°) tests were carried out with the model without lateral reaction of the soil, with lateral reaction simulating 1 meter of buried prototype, with lateral reaction simulating 1 meter of buried prototype and central free span, and with horizontal imperfection. Two straight pipeline tests were carried out in order to compare with the zig-zag model. The results showed that the zig-zag geometry minimizes the effects caused by the thermal expansion of the pipeline.