Effectiveness of Prevention Methods for Excavation Damage

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• Leak Detection
• Public Safety
• Outside Force Damage
• Excavation Techniques

Main Objective

The main objective is to deveolp a new fault tree model that will estimate hit frequency due to third-party excavation based on pipeline condition and prevention practices. In addition to the evalutaion of prevention effectiveness, this model can be used to facilitate the selection of the most cost-effective prevention methods, and to evaluate risk and reliability of existing or new pipelines.

Public Abstract

Mechanical damage is one of the main failure causes for oil and gas pipelines. Models that appropriately quantify the prevention effectiveness are needed to facilitate the selection of the most cost-effective prevention methods, and to evaluate risk and reliability of existing or new pipelines. Effectiveness of damage prevention methods is identified in the BAA as one of the focus research areas.
Applications of a reliability-based model developed by C-FER in a previous PRCI project have identified several limitations of this simple model. The proposed work will build on previous research. Its main objective is to develop a new fault tree model that will estimate the hit frequency due to third-party excavation based on pipeline condition and prevention practices. This new model will provide a means for pipeline operators and regulators to design and enhance prevention programs to meet risk reduction or cost optimization objectives. The project will be jointly sponsored by PRCI and DOT. PRCI has allocated the required co-funding amount for 2004.