Data Management as the Foundation of Integrity Management

Worldwide, regulatory bodies are applying increasing pressure on pipeline operators to manage their pipeline systems in a safe and reliable manner. To respond to these escalating requirements, operators are developing comprehensive integrity management systems. Integrity management begins with developing strong data management capabilities to host and integrate numerous sources of physical data. A key issue in today’s integrity data management system development is integration of all pipeline data from multiple levels of the organization to one central location for easy and effective utilization of the information. Data are often scattered throughout the organization, which often tends towards data duplication, poor decisions, errors, and inefficiencies. The lack of an effective data management process leads to time and resource constrains. In the long run; development of a comprehensive integrated system has proven to be worth the investment. The primary objective of the data model is to account for a common/standard linear referencing of all pipeline features occurring along the pipeline route, and/or within the pipeline right of way. This paper describes the key factors to consider when developing a full data management system and provides some insights into how these integrated data are used to address the need for integrity management.