ONSHORE PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION

OVERVIEW - 1
O
„ Planningg for new capacity
p y must begin
g far in advance of
transporting the first barrel of oil or refined petroleum product,
or the first cubic foot of natural gas.

„ Pipeline companies must determine:

„ possible routes for the new pipelines;
„ acquire the rights
rights-of-way
of way (ROW) to build,
build
„ operate and maintain the lines;
„ engineer the actual system designs; and,
„ construct
t t ththe lilines.

All of these steps are subject to rigorous regulatory reviews and

approvals.
l
OVERVIEW - 2
O
„ Construction can only begin after:
„ the route selection receives regulatory approval,
„ ROW is obtained,
obtained and
„ the system design is completed.

„ Regardless
dl off the
h length
l h off the
h pipeline,
i li the
h construction
i
process must be carefully planned to ensure the safety and
integrity of the new pipeline, and then executed to meet
construction
t ti schedules
h d l and d seasonall weather
th conditions.
diti

„ In some ways, installing a pipeline is much like an assembly

assembly-line
line
process, with sections of the pipeline being completed in a
sequence of repetitive steps.

S eps
Steps
„ Route Selection
„ Regulatory Processes
„ Design
g
„ Site Preparation
„ Pipe
p Stringing
g g
„ Trenching
„ Bending
„ Welding
„ Coating
„ Lowering and Backfilling
„ Testing
„ S Restoration
Site
Route
ou e Selection
Se e o - 1
„ Pipeline construction requires a great deal of planning, consultation and
preparation.

„ Following
g the decision to move ahead with a project,
p j the company
p y
must assess alternative routes for the pipeline, and select a final
proposed route.

„ Issues such as:

„ what communities need service;
„ what size p
pipeline
p is needed;;
„ what natural resources might be impacted;
„ what environmental areas and population centers might be
intersected;;
„ what other infrastructure systems lie along the route

are just a few considerations that enter into the process

process.

Route
ou e Selection
Se e o - 2
„ The general public and government agencies along the proposed route
are also
l consulted,
l d individually
d d ll andd through
h h public
bl notices andd public
bl
meetings.

„ Extensive environmental and land use assessments are completed, and

mitigation plans are formulated for various scenarios.

„ These assessments may result in adjustments to the proposed pipeline

route.

„ Following final route selection, land is acquired by purchase, license or

easement agreement, and permits are obtained from government
agencies with jurisdictions along the right-of-way.

„ Finally, a number of regulatory processes must be completed.

Regulatory
egu a o y Process
o ess - 1
„ The Federal Energy
gy Regulatory
g y Commission,, or FERC,, exercises
regulatory control over construction of natural gas pipelines.

„ Once a gas pipeline company proposes the route or location

location, it
is examined and considered by FERC. The company must study
a number of alternative routes or locations to avoid or minimize
damage to the environment, and then FERC, interveners, or any
commenter may suggest alternatives and modifications.

„ Effects on buildings
buildings, fences
fences, crops
crops, water supplies
supplies, soil
soil,
vegetation, wildlife, air quality, noise, safety, landowner
interests, and more, are taken into consideration. FERC also
considers whether a pipeline can be placed near or within an
existing pipeline, power line, or highway or railroad right-of-
way.

Regulatory
egu a o y Process
o ess - 2
„ If a determination is made that the p
project
j will make no
significant environmental impact, the project usually moves
forward quickly.

„ However, when it is determined that the project will make a

significant environmental impact, a more in-depth
environmental impact statement is developed, and acceptable
mitigation efforts must be reviewed and approved prior to
moving forward.

„ Generally, state and local laws are the primary regulatory

factors for construction of new hazardous pipelines.
Design
es g - 1
„ There are many significant differences between
hazardous liquid and natural gas transmission
pipeline systems.

„ These differences involve system design, materials

and components used,
used safety and environmental
considerations, and a host of other topics.

„ Also, an entire transmission pipeline system may be

short - such as a lateral line from a production area
t a refinery
to fi or processing
i facility
f ilit - or it may be
b very
long, running from the coast to a major city.

Design
es g - 2
„ Pipe sections are fabricated in steel rolling
mills and inspected to assure they meet
government and industryy safetyy standards.
g
Generally between 40 and 80 feet in length,
they are designed specifically for their
i t d d location
intended l ti in
i the
th pipeline.
i li

„ A variety of soil conditions and geographic or

population characteristics of the route will
di t t diff
dictate differentt requirements
i t ffor pipe
i size,
i
strength, wall thickness and coating material.
Site
S e Preparation
epa a o - 1
„ To begin construction, the selected route (construction rights-of-way)
off the
h pipeline
l must be
b cleared.
l d

„ Construction work and equipment

q p passage
p g requires
q that temporary
p y
work space be used that is outside the permanent easement. The
temporary use of this additional space is negotiated with the
landowner.

„ A survey crew carefully surveys and stakes the construction rights-of-

way to ensure that only the pre-approved construction workspace is
cleared.
cleared

„ Next, to make the rights-of-way into a suitable work area, a clearing

and grading crew prepares the corridor so the construction equipment
can operate safely.

Site
S e Preparation
epa a o - 2
„ The crew also prepares a working surface for the additional
construction equipment that
h willll follow.
f ll

„ The crew installs silt fence along

g edges
g of streams and wetlands to
prevent erosion of disturbed soil.
„ Trees inside the right-of-way are cut down and the timber is removed
or stacked alongside the rights-of-way. Brush is commonly shredded or
b
burned.
d

„ Also, as may be necessary in agricultural areas, topsoil may be stripped

t a predetermined
to d t i d depth
d th and d stockpiled
t k il d along
l the
th sides
id off the
th rights-
i ht
of-way. Stockpiling of topsoil is not required in areas that are not
cultivated.
Pipe
pe S
Stringing
g g
„ Once the construction rights-of-way
rights of way has been cleared
sufficiently to allow construction equipment to gain
access, sections of ppipe
p are laid out alongg the rights-
g
of-way. This process is called 'stringing' the pipe.

„ The pipe may be transported from the pipe mill to a

pipe storage yard in the vicinity of the pipeline
l
location
ti or directly
di tl tot the
th rights-of-way.
i ht f Aft th
After the
pipe is delivered to the rights-of-way, a stringing
crew will carefully distribute the various pipe sections
according to the design plan.

Trenching
e g
„ After stringing the pipe sections in place, a trench is dug along the rights-of-way
alongside
l id the
th pipe
i sections.
ti Topsoil
T il is
i often
ft removed d from
f the
th workk area andd
stockpiled separately to be used in site restoration. Mechanical equipment such
as wheel trenchers or backhoes is used to dig the pipe trench. Occasionally, rock
drilling and blasting is required to break rock in a controlled manner. The
material
i l that
h isi excavated d during
d i trenchinghi operations
i is
i temporarily
il stockpiled
k il d
on the non-working side of the trench. This material will be used again in the
backfill operation.

„ The trenches are dug deep enough to allow for an adequate amount of cover
when the pipe is buried. Federal regulations require that transmission pipelines
be buried at least 30 inches below the surface in rural areas and deeper in more
populated areas.
areas In addition,
addition the pipeline must be buried deeper in some
locations, such as at road crossings and crossings of bodies of water, and may
be less in other locations such as when it is installed in consolidated rock. The
depth of burial of the line must be in accordance with Federal pipeline safety
regulations.
regulations
Bending
e d g-1
„ A bending machine is used in the field to
make slight bends in individual sections of the
pipe
i tot accountt ffor changes
h iin the
th pipeline
i li
route and to conform to the topography.

„ The bending machine uses a series of clamps

and hydraulic pressure to make a very
smooth,
th controlled
t ll d bend
b d ini the
th pipe.
i

Bending
e d g-2
„ All bending is performed in strict accordance
with prescribed standards to ensure integrity
off th
the b
bend.
d
„ Often bend configurations
g must be
determined ahead of time. They are then pre-
engineered and prefabricated in a special
shop and then brought on site for installation
at the proper location
location.
Welding
ed g - 1
„ To carryy out the welding
g process,
p , the pipe
p p sections are
temporarily supported along the edge of the trench and aligned.
The various pipe sections are then welded together into one
continuous length, using manual, semiautomatic or automatic
welding
ldi procedures.
d

„ Special pipeline equipment called side booms are used to pick

up, support and align each piece of pipe with the next piece to
make the first pass of each weld.

„ All welding procedures are qualified and welding is controlled to

strict specifications, including semiautomatic and automatic
procedures More and more often,
procedures. often especially for larger projects
projects,
automatic welding is used instead of manual welding.

Welding
ed g - 2
„ As p
part of the quality-assurance
q y process,, each welder must pass
p p
qualification tests to work on a particular pipeline job, and each weld
procedure must be approved for use on that job in accordance with
federally adopted welding standards.
„ W ld qualification
Welder lifi i takes
k place
l before
b f the
h project
j begins.
b i Each
E h welder
ld
must complete several welds using the same type of pipe as that to be
used in the project. The welds are then evaluated by placing the
welded material in a machine and measuring the force required to pull
the weld apart. It is interesting to note that the weld is actually
stronger than the pipe itself.
„ A second level of quality
quality-assurance
assurance ensures the quality of the ongoing
welding operation. To do this, qualified technicians take X-rays of the
pipe welds to ensure the completed welds meet federally prescribed
quality standards. The X-ray technician processes the film in a small,
po table da
portable darkroom
k oom at the site
site. If the technician detects any
an flaws,
fla s the
weld is repaired or cut out, and a new weld is made. Another form of
weld quality inspection employs ultrasonic technology.
Coating
Coa g-1
„ After the pipe is welded, the welds are examined,
usually by X-ray, and a coating is applied to the
welded areas at the ends of the pipe sections to
prevent corrosion
corrosion.

„ A coating is applied to the pipe during its

manufacture; however, this process typically leaves
the ends of the pipe uncoated to allow for welding.

Coating
Coa g-2
„ Several different types of coatings may be used to
coat field joints, the most common being fusion bond
epoxy or polyethylene heat-shrink sleeves.

„ Prior to application, the bare pipe is thoroughly

cleaned to remove any dirt,
dirt mill scale or debris.
debris The
coating is then applied and allowed to dry.

„ After field coating and before the pipe is lowered into

the trench, the entire coating of the pipe is inspected
t ensure th
to thatt it iis ffree ffrom d
defects.
f t
Lowering
o e g
„ Once the pipeline is welded and coated, it is lowered into the trench.
Lowering is done
d withh multiple
l l pieces off specialized
l d construction
equipment called sidebooms.

„ This equipment acts in tandem to lift and lower segments of the

assembled pipeline into the trench in a smooth and uniform manner to
prevent damaging the pipe.

„ Once the pipeline is lowered into the ground, the trench is carefully
backfilled, to ensure that the pipe and its coating are not damaged.

„ This is generally accomplished with either a backhoe or padding

machine depending on the soil makeup.

Backfilling
a g
„ Care is taken to protect the pipe and coating from sharp rocks and
abrasion
b as the
h backfill
b kf ll is returned
d to the
h trench.
h

„ In areas where the gground is rockyy and coarse, the backfill material is
screened to remove rocks or the pipe is covered with a material to
protect it from sharp rocks and abrasion.

„ Alternatively, clean fill may be brought in to cover the pipe. Once the
pipe is sufficiently covered, the coarser soil and rock can then be used
to complete the backfill.

„ As the backfill operations begin, the excavated material is returned to

the trench in reverse order, with the subsoil put back first, followed by
the topsoil
topsoil. This ensures the topsoil is returned to its original position
position.
Testing
es g - 1
„ Generally, but with certain exceptions, all newly constructed hazardous
l
liquid
d and
d naturall gas transmission pipelines
l must be
b hydrostatically
h d ll
tested before they can be placed into service.

„ The purpose of a hydrostatic pressure test is to eliminate any defect

that might threaten the pipeline's ability to sustain its maximum
operating pressure, or to determine that no defects exist.

„ A pipeline is designed to a specified strength based on its intended

operating pressure. Hydrostatic pressure testing consists of filling the
pipeline with water and raising the internal pressure to a specified level
above the intended operating pressure.

„ Critical defects that cannot withstand the pressure will fail

fail. Upon
detection of such failures, the defects are repaired or the affected
section of the pipeline is replaced and the test resumed until the
pipeline
p p "passes".
p

Testing
es g - 2
„ Hydrostatic testing is not the only means for detecting pipe defects.

„ For example, inline inspection (ILI) technologies are used that permit
the identification of specific
p types
yp of defects, such as corrosion.

„ But because not all lines can be inspected with ILI tools and because of
yp of defects that are not currentlyy detected byy ILI
the need to find types
technology, hydrostatic testing is an accepted method for
demonstrating the fitness of a pipeline segment for service.
Site
S e Restoration-
es o a o 1
„ Finally, the construction right
Finally right-of-way
of way is restored as
closely as possible to its original condition.

„ Depending on the location and circumstances, this

could involve:
„ smoothing the construction area,
„ replacing topsoil,
„ repairing irrigation systems,
„ applying fertilizer and grass seed,
„ or other
th actions
ti that
th t may bbe necessary.

Site
S e Restoration-
es o a o 2
„ The right-of-way
right of way is carefully graded,
graded and in hilly
areas, erosion-prevention measures such as
p
interceptor dikes - which are small earthen mounds
constructed across the right-of-way to divert water -
are installed.

„ Stone or timber materials -- known as 'riprap" -- are

also
l sometimes
ti installed
i t ll d along
l streams
t andd wetlands
tl d
to stabilize soils and retain habitat following
construction.
construction
Movie
o e
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\VIDEO\PL ONSHORE CONSTR.wmv
CONSTR wmv

„ ..\VIDEO\PIPELINE-36pIPE wITH 6
cONCRETE cOATING LOWERING.wmv

Sign
S g Mark
a