Geographic Information System (GIS)
 The Pressure Pipe Inspection Company's GIS Solution, sets the standard for fast and powerful pipeline asset mapping and analysis tools. Pipeline owners need to know both the real value of their pipelines and what maintenance and operating procedures should be used to extend the useful life to the maximum possible. This equation delivers two benefits: known tangible results on life cycle management and best practices for management.
The PPIC GIS focuses on the water pipeline industry's need to have detailed pipe segment information in a structured database accessible by user-friendly tools.
The PPIC GIS provides users with an accurate system map of individual pipe sections, relates all relevant data to these pipe sections, and allows to access this asset database for risk analysis, cost analysis, work order management, report production and database querying.
Why Use GIS?
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a system of computer software, hardware, data, and personnel to help manipulate, analyze,
and present information that is tied to a spatial location.
- spatial location -- usually a geographic location
- information -- visualization of analysis of data
- system -- linking software, hardware, data
- personnel -- a thinking explorer who is key to the power of GIS
The innovative water pipeline database model developed by PPIC holds pipeline attribute data and geographic location information.
The pipeline database provides an accurate representation of each pipe section, from bell to spigot, and contains all the attribute
information for that section. This provides the necessary granularity for capital planning, historical data tracking, defect tracking
and hydraulic analysis.
From this centralized dataset, multiple users can view, analyze and update data, and create reports without duplicating datasets or searching facility-wide for information.
The Benefits of GIS
In total, the GIS solution gives pipeline owners:
- Increased detail of representation of pipeline assets, pipe segments including integration opportunities with work management software and Environmental Monitoring programs
- Provides increased granularity for planning capital programs; Target specific pipes for replacement instead of whole waterlines
- Historical pipe data maintained for perpetuity in database
- Defects are uniquely tracked over several inspections. This provides defect trend analysis and projecting future defect values
- Maintains ability to export for hydraulic analysis and present hydraulic analysis results in the GIS for calibration
- This data model delivers a high value data set that is very accurate at representing existing water infrastructure
This data is accessible via a simple web browser or through ESRI’s ArcView software. PPIC provides full training and user support.
The PPIC GIS tools are developed for both environments with the casual user in mind and take advantage of the data structure to enhance the users ability to mine data and perform:
- Risk Analysis
- Cost Analysis
- Trend Analysis
- Report Production
- Pipe Section Locates
Risk and Asset Management
The pipes and other system features themselves require some analytical and historical tracking. The choice to repair, rehabilitate, or postpone falls under risk management as it is the process of making and implementing decisions that will minimize the adverse effects of accidental and business losses on an organization. Conducting a risk management assessment for a pipeline on a joint-by-joint basis requires the capabilities of a fully functioning GIS environment because of the large amounts of data and computational time required.
Once decisions are made, the documentation and archival of the implications of the decision usually becomes one of asset management. A distressed pipe may be replaced and taken out of service but can still exist as a historical record to be referenced in management system including the decision to repair, repair notes and photos, and related inspection and assessment documentation .
Even a simple comparison report of changes in pre-stressing wire breaks between inspections is a relatively simple procedure that would take a long time to prepare without the use of a GIS given the number of pipe joints per mile of pipeline. Calculating which pipes will fail is a more complicated study because of the many different variables involved other than the number of pipe breaks.
One method of determining those pipes to replace is by looking for individual joints with a certain number of wire breaks, in a specific area of the pipe, bar rating, and wire pitch.
Failure analysis by selecting pipes with certain characteristics.
Models and parameters regarding integrity priorities, formulated to include the spatial aspects or otherwise, to calculate those pipes with the highest degree of failure increase the accuracy of the model and offer quick analysis and multiple scenarios.
Once a list of pipes needing repair or replacement is in hand, an operator needs a rehabilitation plan. Since budgets are not limitless, not all pipes can be repaired. Cost analysis is again a simple procedure using a GIS because in addition to pipe information, the operator also has other map layers that show, topography, land use, customer locations, etc. This external data provides the basis for a cost analysis and can aid in developing a priority ranking for the most and least critical repair projects.
For more information call:
Hugh Leavens, Marketing, at 905-624-1040 x 307
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