BY JASON EDWARDS
Pipeline Safety, One Step at a Time
H
ow do you make sure that a 623kilometre stretch of high-pressure liquid petroleum pipeline is safe? You walk its entire length. This is exactly what we did in the summer of 2019 to help our client, Enbridge Inc., meet federal laws intended to protect public safety through regular inspections of pipelines. This includes checking if the pipeline has appropriate depth of cover, to be performed about once every 10 years.
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PIPEL INE OBSERV ER CAEPL A .ORG
Another federal requirement is to ensure that the pipeline Right of Way (RoW) markers are in place, visible and in good condition — to be checked about every four years. These signs are generally concentrated at critical areas, including road and railway crossings, as well as at watercourses. At stake is the issue of public safety, but also public service — this 30-inch line is a vital link for keeping the wheels of industry, as well as society as a whole, turning. A farmer’s plough or an excavator’s backhoe causing a pipeline rupture
Photo courtesy PVS Contractors
The value of walking softly and carrying a great app.
