The $109-million Traverse City-Alpena Reinforcement Project (TCARP) added a second natural gas pipeline to increase the reliability of the natural gas supply system serving more than 51,000 customers in northwest Michigan. Constructing 23 miles of natural gas pipeline and seven gate stations required extensive survey construction staking and as-built measurements of the pipeline to comply with rigorous federal regulatory agency and utility requirements. Wade Trim thoroughly documented the existing conditions of the pipeline corridor, supported construction activities, and collected extensive pipeline attributes and as-built data to support the pipeline’s long-term safety and integrity.
Working in remote, hilly terrain without a reliable cellular network, numerous surveying challenges were addressed to deliver the centimeter-level accuracy and details required. A combination of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) technology, Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), robotic total stations, and lidar scanners were used with daily downloads of large volumes of data. These large datasets required daily processing and network adjustments to create a precise GIS geodatabase of as-built pipeline data and orthometric aerial imagery of the pipeline corridor. Integrating Trimble® AccessTM Pipelines software into the process optimized how all survey data was collected and combined into the master project database to deliver the utility’s required metadata of the pipeline system.
Maintaining pipeline integrity for the lifespan of the system was supported by accurately identifying the extents of potential slope failures throughout the project for the design team, and subsequently survey staking these critical locations of engineered control measures to facilitate pipe installation. In addition, the corridor restoration phase was streamlined by utilizing a meticulous pre-construction survey that collected site-specific documentation and geolocated photos of all existing site features within the pipeline right-of-way.
Awards:
ACEC of Michigan Eminent Conceptor Award, 2023
ACEC National Recognition Award, 2023
