Pipeline incident data show that about 22 percent of the pipeline incidents reported to the DOT for the period from 1995 through 2003 was caused by excavation damage. Only incidents from all forms of corrosion account for a higher proportion of the incidents, and the corrosion proportion is around 24 percent. This work presents the results of a survey and interpretive review of pipeline operator practices for the prevention of damage to pipelines from mechanical excavating equipment. A recent joint industry-DOT project has produced a compendium of practices and technologies for preventing damage...
Pipeline incident data show that about 22 percent of the pipeline incidents reported to the DOT for the period from 1995 through 2003 was caused by excavation damage. Only incidents from all forms of corrosion account for a higher proportion of the incidents, and the corrosion proportion is around 24 percent. This work presents the results of a survey and interpretive review of pipeline operator practices for the prevention of damage to pipelines from mechanical excavating equipment. A recent joint industry-DOT project has produced a compendium of practices and technologies for preventing damage to pipelines. The work described herein represents a follow-on effort to determine how effective these practices and technologies have been with respect to preventing damage. The project was aimed at determining which techniques are effective, which are not effective, and which would be worth further investigation.