Pipeline Planning, Construction, and Operations
Efficiencies using Geomatics Technologies
By M. Diane Thompson, David S. Kerr, Jill S. Hebb, Justin A.M. McPherson, and Jim C. Thompson

The use of integrated geomatics technologies in pipeline asset management is growing in popularity among pipeline managers and operations personnel. Faced with regulatory constraints and competition, these and other decision-makers are looking for more efficient and responsible ways of managing complex pipeline projects. By integrating their operational systems - both digital and paper - they can realize significant efficiencies, particularly during the planning and operations phases of pipeline projects.
    Some of the efficiencies are related to:
¥ use of GIS modeling to reduce field survey costs;
¥ obtaining stakeholder "buy-in" early in the project (thus saving on the time and cost of hearings);
¥ bringing income forward through earlier construction and operation;
¥ use of up-to-date, easily available satellite data for planning purposes, particularly over large areas (not feasibly accomplished using other methods);
¥ establishment of spatial databases on environmental and socio-economic aspects which can be easily updated/modified over the lifetime of pipeline operation, and shared with project partners;
¥ reduction of time required to complete a pipeline program involving spatial data compared to use of more traditional methods;
¥ digital spatial data used in interactive sessions with stake holders to greatly facilitate decision-making for route selection and other aspects;
¥ enhanced emergency response, leading to savings in clean-up and liability costs; and
¥ legacy databases that support future uses.

The RIMS Approach: Building through Pipeline Project Phases
Like other major projects, pipeline projects have a phased lifetime: planning, construction, operation and, eventually, decommissioning. With careful planning for efficiency into the future, environmental, engineering, financial and market data acquired during the planning phase can be updated and built upon during the subsequent phases, saving time and money. A spatial database is used in Golder's "Resource Information Management Systems (RIMS)" approach to integrate geographic information, industry-specific systems, and business process data for use throughout the project lifetime.
    For example, the pipeline planning stage can involve acquisition of images (air photos, satellite data), spatial data (land use, soils, terrain models), relational data (land ownership) and field survey data (environmental, geotechnical); these are used in such tasks as route selection, environmental impact assessments, permit applications and stakeholder consultations.
    The next phase (construction and reclamation) will use these data and add information to the database as alignment mapping, detailed engineering studies and drawings, environmental protection planning, compliance reporting, and staged construction and reclamation are completed. More detail will be added to the terrain models, to the geotechnical database, to the right-of-way vegetation/reclamation database, etc.
    When construction is complete, the spatial database is then available for the operations phase. Information on reclamation will be used in the right-of-way maintenance program with facility locations and environmentally sensitive areas built into the emergency response plan and the environmental health and safety initiatives. As the pipeline operation continues over 20, 30 and 40 years, the database will be continually modified and updated, until the historical information is used for decommissioning. Efficiencies are gained when existing data sets, such as soils maps or terrain models, are modified or added to in an existing spatial framework, rather than recreated as each new department gets involved.

Pipeline Project Examples: Demonstrating the Efficiencies of Geomatics Technologies
Gas Looping Environmental Study in Alberta: In the early 1990s, Canadian Western Natural Gas commissioned an environmental impact assessment for a looping project in which about 60 miles of new pipeline were required.1 The looping project was a complicated one, requiring assessments of not only technical and economic considerations, but also environmental and social aspects. Using soils, engineering, archaeological, biological and socio-economic data integrated in a GIS, 69 route options were initially identified for review by Canadian Western, regulatory agencies and the public.
    One particularly difficult aspect was the very high archaeological sensitivity of the area, as it falls in a natural pass through the Rocky Mountains and an ice-free early migration route into the New World. Predictive modeling of archaeological site location was applied to the corridor using the GIS, with potential based on proximity to water, terrain slope and drainage. This allowed field investigations to be concentrated in the moderate- and high-potential sites, resulting in greater field efficiency and a large cost saving. This was the first time that archaeological predictive modeling using GIS was completed in conjunction with other disciplines to choose a linear route in Alberta.
    The GIS was also used as an important constituent in the public and regulatory agency interaction. As each step in the process could be visually displayed and manipulated interactively, members of the public could participate in changing the model and seeing the map outcome immediately. Involving these stakeholders and the regulators actively in the process helped reduce the 69 options to three in a brief 3 months, and their "buy-in" allowed the looping project to obtain its construction permit without a costly public hearing. This saved the government and client nearly $1 million. A second significant benefit was realized as the construction of the pipeline and its operation got underway about 18 months earlier than would have been the case if a hearing were required.
    Yellowstone Pipe Line Environmental Sensitivity Assessment for Emergency Response Planning: A second pipeline project example has recently been completed for the Yellowstone Pipe Line Company for a 640-mile gasoline, jet fuel and diesel product pipeline extending from Missoula, Montana to Moses Lake, Washington. The operators of this 43-year-old line initiated an environmental sensitivity assessment as input to an updated digital Emergency Response Plan for the entire line. Because of the large area of coverage (about 50,000 square miles), a geomatics-based approach was chosen, which made effective use of satellite data, existing map base information, and disciplinary information from reports and field surveys.
    The sensitivity assessment was designed to identify environments or locations that were "environmentally sensitive" and thus needed protection from any type of emergency related to pipeline operation. Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) satellite data were used for up-to-date vegetation and land cover/land use mapping, as well as for image-based maps for presentation of the resulting sensitivity maps.
    For the disciplinary evaluations, which included socio-economic issues, vegetation, wildlife, fisheries and aquatics, surface water, groundwater, cultural/historical resources, and land use, spatial coverages could in many cases be extracted at virtually no cost from Internet sources. Any information not available on the Internet was digitized, and non-spatial attributes entered manually or from spreadsheets.
    Finally, all discipline results were weighted and a composite modeled sensitivity map produced. Weightings were assigned to each discipline by the team of disciplinary specialists, according to the role they had in protecting the priority considerations (in order) of human health, environmental resources, and property and equipment.
    The final integrated sensitivity map product was specifically designed to provide information for the public and those responding to an emergency. Over a satellite image background, the areas of highest sensitivity for each discipline were represented as yellow hatching, and the type of sensitivity was identified by a map symbol (making rapid identification possible). The results of these analyses were then provided to the consultant preparing the emergency response plan as digital files and were integrated digitally into the emergency response plans.
    Efficiencies from using geomatics technologies to approach emergency response planning are yet to be realized since this project is just being completed. However, a few can be singled out for consideration. A complete evaluation of environmental sensitivities for the 50,000 square miles along the pipeline route was carried out, an up-to-date spatial database of environmental parameters created, and important environmental considerations added to the emergency response plans - all for about $3.80 per square mile, and in about 6 months (nearly 8500 square miles/month).
    The more traditional technologies (e.g., aerial photographs, standard topographic maps, ground surveys and CADD drawings) could not have been feasibly used in this program, as the cost would have been 3 to 5 times higher, the work would have taken about 3 times longer, and the final products would have caused time and budget difficulties in the subsequent preparation of the emergency response plans. These plans have been completed in both hardcopy and fully digital formats to optimize their rapid and effective use, and to update plans as required in the future.
    Some pipeline operators would question the need to carry out such a program at all, thus saving the whole $3.80/square mile. The Yellowstone Pipe Line Company believes that it must "respond effectively and in a timely manner to pipeline excursions and/or other emergencies which may affect the integrity of pipeline operations. Proper implementation of the preplanned response will dramatically reduce environmental and ecological damage and safeguard the health and safety of the local community."
    With the spatial database delivered to them, The Yellowstone Pipe Line Company will more efficiently be able to provide that protection over the future years of operation of the pipeline. The cost/benefit of this is difficult to quantify, but includes such considerations as demonstrated commitment to social and environmental responsibility, and reduced emergency response time, leading to reductions in clean-up and legal costs. Meanwhile, the spatial database allows relatively automated mapping.
    Route Selection and Environmental Scoping Study in Alberta: A third example involved completion of an environmental scoping study for a new 400-mile pipeline in southern Alberta, Canada, as part of the initial planning phase. In the environmental issue scoping study, broad components of the project are overlaid onto the environmental and socio-economic setting in which it will be developed. Preliminary route options are identified and assessed, and issues are scoped on the basis of existing, available information. Identification of issues early in the process allows the emphasis of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to be placed on the key issues throughout the assessment process.
    In this project, the approach was to work in a digital interactive environment, using the most appropriate spatial tools to complete the work in one month. Recent satellite (Landsat TM) data were first acquired and small-scale (1:100,000) "alignment" sheets created from the image data. Even though these were based on 30m resolution data, they were of sufficient detail to provide up-to-date information on land cover/land use, vegetation and habitat. As soils, surface water, fisheries and aquatics, heritage, socio-economic, and other relevant data were acquired, they were added to the database, and displayed as summarized data along the proposed routes on the alignment sheets.
    Because of the spatial approach taken, routing criteria (pipeline length minimization, length minimization on native prairie or flood-irrigated lands, avoidance of archaeological/ historic sites or critical wildlife habitat, minimization of wetlands/river crossings, etc.) could easily be applied. Table 1 shows an example of the environmental and economic route evaluation which was carried out interactively in a session with the pipeline company, environmental consultants and representatives of the public. Rankings were assigned and modified during this session, until a consensus was reached in one afternoon. The entire project was completed in a brief time frame of one month after receiving the satellite data, and at a much lower cost (between $8.00 and $34.00 per square mile) than using the traditional method.
    At the end of the scoping exercise, the spatial database was ready for use in the comprehensive study and as a legacy database for baseline environmental conditions. It was also in a standard GIS format that could be shared among the project partners.

Further Development Work
Interest in the use of geomatics technologies in pipeline projects continues to grow. A current multi-participant study, funded by the Canadian government (Canada Centre for Remote Sensing), a local pipeline company and Golder Associates, is evaluating the use of current operational remote sensing systems (including a hyperspectral imager, digital frame camera and multispectral video, plus satellite data) in a GIS environment for use in pipeline planning, construction and operations. Such practical applications as monitoring weed control on rights-of-way, evaluating construction considerations at river crossings, and acquiring up-to-date information on land use adjacent to rights-of-way show considerable promise for geomatics applications, and cost/benefit for the pipeline operator.

Conclusion
Not all pipeline companies are convinced of the value of geomatics technologies, but interest and use is growing rapidly. Particularly those who have begun new projects using these tools in the planning phase will continue to use them throughout the pipeline project phases, and begin to integrate other datasets with their geomatics databases. Thus will the greatest efficiencies be realized.

About the Authors:
Diane Thompson is a senior geomatics specialist with Golder Associates in Calgary, Alberta Canada. Dave Kerr is a principal with Golder Associates in Calgary. Justin McPherson and Jill Hebb are geomatics specialists in the GeoGraphics Information Services group in Golder Associates' Calgary office. Jim Thompson is director, environmental studies, with Yellowstone Pipe Line Company in Missoula, Montana.

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