Since 2016, Barr has provided pipeline engineering and facility design services for a confidential client’s pipeline expansion and well connection projects for gas storage assets in Michigan. The projects have involved routing new pipelines that connect new gas storage wells to existing transmission pipelines. Pipelines varied from 4 to 20 inches in diameter, depending on the required flow rates, existing pipeline facilities, and anticipated utilization. While the overall pipeline lengths varied, depending on the nearest facility available for tie-in, they were generally less than a mile, navigating road and driveway crossings along the way.
Barr performed depth of cover calculations, per API 1102, to establish pipe depths and allow for heavy construction and drilling equipment to move freely over the proposed and existing pipelines. Pressures varied between 800psig and 1,800psig outfitted with ANSI 600 and 900 Class API 6D valves, respectively. For each above-grade pipe facility, various ultrasonic or Coriolis flow meters were installed for flow measurement. We also incorporated blowdown stacks to facilitate tie-in construction and commissioning as well as the client’s future maintenance and integrity work.
Barr’s design included site civil well pad development to support drilling equipment and the temporary and permanent access driveways, which were reviewed for construction equipment weight and turning radius as well as site stormwater management to reduce the risk of washouts. We modeled 50-year rain events to size and detail new culverts and ditches and to upgrade the sites’ existing stormwater facilities. The drawing packages, which included vegetation demolition, site grading, ditch and culvert details, complete Bill of Materials (BOMs), plan and profile views of the pipeline routes, and section views of the tie-in and wellhead piping, were prepared to instruct the contractor on how to route the pipelines safely to the new wellheads. We also modified existing 2D drawings using Microstation to comply with the client’s drafting standards.