Pipeline Engineering: How to Plan for Everything

Every large pipeline project has its own unique design elements and surprises. Anticipating and knowing how to prepare for these potential issues is critical to the successful design, construction and operation of the pipeline. During Preliminary Engineering for pipeline projects there are a few guiding principles that every team should follow to plan the project effectively. Since a thorough Preliminary Engineering evaluation is fundamental for a project's success, these guiding principles cannot be ignored. This paper provides the planning principles and a detailed checklist for owners and engineering managers to utilize during the planning stages of a major pipeline project. Utilization of these tools will help identify potential surprises encountered on each pipeline project earlier than before. These principles and checklist have been developed through experience of planning and design of over 400 miles of large diameter pipelines in mostly urban environments. Planning for everything may seem too cumbersome to accomplish, but this paper will simplify the process for a majority of the typical challenges and include examples from previous lessons learned.