July 2024 Vol. 79 No. 7
Newsline
Newsline July 2024
Nevada town to implement asset management system for 500,000 water assets
Arcadis has been appointed to lead the implementation of Enterprise Decision Analytics for digital asset management for the city of Henderson, the second largest city in Nevada.
Arcadis will support the migration of information from the city's legacy system to Enterprise Decision Analytics (EDA). The Arcadis team will load, configure, and build lifecycle models for their 500,000 water and wastewater assets with detailed strategies for reservoirs, HVAC, sewer mains, potable water laterals and meters.
EDA will enable the city to better understand asset performance, manage its water and wastewater assets that support over 336,000 residents, and create forecasting efficiencies.
With the implementation of EDA and its prescriptive capabilities, the city will be able to analyze all water and wastewater assets throughout their lifecycle, calculate probability of risk and failure, and forecast for measures including age, condition, risk, maintenance, rehabilitation, and replacement costs.
Victoria Underwood, Utility Services Infrastructure Support Manager, for Henderson, said, "As a data-driven city, it is imperative that we employ state-of-the-art technology to manage our vital water and wastewater infrastructure. The Department of Utility Services' business and strategic plan centers on financial sustainability, affordability, and resiliency by improving our reliability and redundancy, and natural resource management.“
Calgary declares state of emergency over water pipeline repairs
Calgary, the largest city in Alberta, Canada, has entered a state of local emergency due to critical repairs needed on its main water pipeline, Mayor Jyoti Gondek announced in June.
The city is grappling with a severe shortage of water caused by a recent breach in its main water pipeline, prompting urgent appeals from Mayor Gondek to immediately reduce water consumption.
Water use restrictions are expected to remain in effect for at least a month or longer, following an internal assessment that identified multiple vulnerable areas in the damaged pipeline, according to Gondek.
The rupture in the city's main water feeder, serving 1.2 million residents, resulted in flooding on streets, sports fields, and a section of the TransCanada Highway, which remains closed.
Downtown Calgary, where many of Canada's oil and gas firms are headquartered, is feeling the impact of the crisis. Consequently, outdoor watering has been prohibited, and residents are advised to delay using dishwashers, washing machines, and to minimize shower durations.
The affected pipeline, spanning 11 kilometers and installed in 1975, is vital as one of Calgary's largest and most critical water supply arteries.
ONEOK finalizes $280 million deal for NGL pipeline network
ONEOK Inc. has completed its acquisition of a system of natural gas liquids (NGL) pipelines from Easton Energy for approximately $280 million.
The system comprises of approximately 450 miles of NGL pipelines located in the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast market centers for NGLs, refined products and crude oil. These pipelines transport a wide range of liquids products through a portion of its capacity to existing customers.
ONEOK plans to connect the pipelines to ONEOK's Mont Belvieu, Texas, NGL infrastructure and ONEOK's Houston refined products and crude oil infrastructure, accelerating commercial synergies.
In May 2023, ONEOK agreed to purchase Magellan Midstream Partners in a deal valued at approximately $18.8 billion, inclusive of debt. This move diversified ONEOK's portfolio from natural gas transportation to include Magellan's refined products and crude oil transportation business, significantly altering its revenue composition.
The acquisition aimed to create a North American midstream infrastructure giant, with a substantial portion of its earnings derived from fee-based sources. ONEOK's CEO, Pierce H. Norton II, expressed optimism about the deal, emphasizing the resultant company's robust balance sheet and financial flexibility. Despite concerns over oversupply in the natural gas market and fluctuating crude prices, the merger was expected to bolster the resilience of the combined entity through diverse commodity cycles.
Garney, Dewberry completes record crossing of James River
The Design-Build team of Garney Construction and Dewberry Engineers was hired by the Hampton Roads Sewer District to design and construct a force main crossing the James River in Newport News, Virginia. Brierley Associates, serving as geotechnical specialists, assisted during the trenchless operation.
On May 2, 2024, the horizontal directional drilling (HDD) was successfully completed beneath the Newport News Shipping Channel after almost 24 hours over two days of continuous pipe pullback operations.
The process started early on May 1 with tugs towing 5,700 feet of fused 42-in HDPE pipe across the James River. The pipe was then positioned on a pipe handling barge and pulled to the pipe pusher assembly above a 66-inch steel casing pipe.
Initial testing involved advancing about 150 feet of the pipe into the casing and using river water for ballasting, monitored to ensure the pipe remained filled.
The pullback operations began with the pipe advanced in 31-foot sections, descending to 160 ft, before ascending back to the surface.
Brierley's Jim Williams monitored the pullback loads to ensure they matched the design calculations. By 8 pm on May 2, the trenchless project was completed as the barrel reamer emerged onshore in Newport News, setting a world record for the HDD at 5,614 linear feet.
Dominion Energy Virginia buries 2,000 miles of power lines
Just ahead of the Atlantic hurricane season, Dominion Energy Virginia has finished burying 2,000 miles of previously overhead power lines as part of its Strategic Underground Program.
Launched in 2014 to reduce storm-related power outages and shorten restoration times, the program focuses on burying power lines in the most outage-prone areas. The company plans to bury several thousand additional miles of overhead lines as the program continues in the coming years.
"We launched this program a decade ago after finding that a significant number of storm-related power outages were occurring in a relatively small number of areas," said Ed Baine, President of Dominion Energy Virginia. "By burying the lines in these outage-prone areas, we're not only reducing the number of outages, but we're also shortening how long it takes to get the power back on."
The Strategic Underground Program is one of several programs that the company has launched in recent years to reduce power outages and make the grid more resilient.
CGA report identifies risks, opportunities for improving underground locating
Common Ground Alliance (CGA) – the national association protecting underground utility lines, people who dig near them, and their communities – published the “DIRT Special Report: Uncovering Contributing Factors to Locating Practice Errors.”
The report examines some of the underlying factors driving damages associated with locating practices, the root cause attributed to more than a third of all underground utility damage, across three case studies:
Google Fiber’s (GFiber) coordination with 811 centers, locators, and fiber-installation sub-contractors on large fiber and network build projects, resulting in a 39 percent reduction in locate-related project delays.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities’ (MA DPU) proactive enforcement on non-gas facility operators that were failing to complete mark outs on time, resulting in greater than 99% completion rates post-intervention.
North Carolina 811’s (NC811) analysis of the effects of ticket screening, including how many cleared and re-issued tickets were associated with DIRT-reported damages.
“Three snapshots across different stakeholder groups all show the power of a consensus-based approach to reducing underground utility damage,” said CGA President and CEO Sarah Magruder Lyle. “We’re seeing a massive investment in the infrastructure that forms the foundation of our day-to-day lives. Stakeholders simply must improve coordination to protect both our communities and our investments in public utilities.”
GFiber’s work demonstrates that while billions of dollars in funding are available to expand broadband networks to reduce the digital divide, this also poses an increased risk.
Recently, GFiber experienced project delays related to locating practices. The company found several utilities were overloading the locate system with an unexpected number of large projects and the volume of locate notices was overwhelming the capacity of locate companies.
In collaboration with involved stakeholders, an end-to-end review of the process was completed for projects in 10 states and to-date, a 39 percent decrease in locate-related project delays has been achieved.
To examine an alternate perspective on damages associated with locating practices root causes, North Carolina 811 analyzed the impact of “ticket screening,” or clearing tickets not in conflict with utility lines to prioritize locating known conflicts.
If a ticket is cleared and an excavator finds evidence of unmarked buried utilities, they are required to put in a three-hour notice which forces locators to play catch-up and respond within the state-mandated three hours. Analysis of 811 tickets and damage data revealed that 45% of the damages associated with three-hour tickets were instances of tickets initially cleared but later marked.
North Carolina 811 Executive Director and CGA Data Committee Co-chair Louis Panzer indicates research has largely been driven by the suspicion that many locate requests are falling through the cracks. “Finding efficiencies will help improve the accuracy of screening, avoid near misses, and increase confidence in the 811 system as a whole,” said Panzer. “To achieve CGA’s goal of reducing damages by 50% over five years, it is essential to identify these damage concentrations so targeted corrective measures can be taken.”
Systemic challenges require systemic solutions – as the Massachusetts Department of Public demonstrated in working with two non-gas facility operators to improve their locating mark out processes. Rather than issuing fines and seeing the same outputs, they worked with the operators to help them address the underlying issues and communicate with their third-party locators to address challenges.
Enbridge adds 21,000 miles of gas distribution, transmission pipelines with acquisition
Enbridge Inc. has closed on its acquisition of the Questar Gas Company and its related Wexpro companies from Dominion Energy, Inc.
The Questar Gas utility will be doing business in Utah as Enbridge Gas Utah, in Wyoming as Enbridge Gas Wyoming, and in Idaho as Enbridge Gas Idaho. Questar will join Enbridge's Gas Distribution and Storage Business Unit.
Questar Gas is a premier multi-state utility that distributes natural gas in Utah, southwestern Wyoming, and southeastern Idaho, serving approximately 1.2 million customers in service territories with fast growing economies and populations.
Questar Gas's asset portfolio includes over 21,000 miles of natural gas distribution and transmission pipelines, a liquefied natural gas storage facility that enhances system reliability, and interconnections to multiple interstate natural gas pipelines.
The combined contributions from Questar and the previously closed acquisition of The East Ohio Gas Company (now doing business as Enbridge Gas Ohio) are expected to contribute approximately 80 percent of the total annualized EBITDA from the three gas utilities Enbridge has agreed to acquire from Dominion.
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