Determining Pipeline Depth of Cover at River Crossings by Data Integration

Having sufficient depth of cover ensures pipeline protection and is a regulatory requirement. Confirming the pipeline depth of cover on dry land is generally easy and produces accurate results. However, determining the pipeline depth of cover at a river crossing can be problematic because of accessibility difficulties and the increased measurement errors from aboveground surveys. The difficulty of determining the pipeline depth of cover at river crossings can be resolved by integrating both the aboveground survey data and the inline inspection data. By comparing both sets of data, errors from both above survey data and inline inspection data can be detected. This paper describes watercourse management, aboveground DOC surveys, and a spreadsheet based tool developed for both the quick verification of aboveground survey results, and the calculation of the true DOC at water crossings without needing to set new GPS tie-points on both banks of the crossing and running a new ILI.