The Importance of Pre-Planning for Large Hydrostatic Test Programs

Large hydrostatic test programs require extensive pre-planning to avoid increased costs and delayed schedules. Recently, Enbridge Pipelines Inc. completed construction and testing of more than 1,200 km of an NPS 36 oil pipeline for the Line 4 Extension Project and the Canadian portion of the Alberta Clipper Expansion Project over three construction seasons. A total of 57 mainline hydrostatic tests were successfully completed and approved by the National Energy Board. Following the first construction and hydrostatic testing season, many lessons were learned that were implemented for hydrostatic testing during the second construction season. The most important aspect of large pipeline hydrostatic test programs is locating and securing water sources. Extensive ground truthing must be preformed to adequately determine locations, volumes and access to water sources. Once potential sources are identified, water quality and environmental issues must be assessed, which leads to applying for and obtaining the necessary permits for water withdrawal and discharge. Leaving an important item such as water sources to be “field-determined” can lead to unanticipated complications, schedule delay and increased construction costs. Water sources are just one of the many important pre-planning activities that must be given adequate attention before the start of pipeline construction to successfully and efficiently manage a large pipeline hydrostatic test program. Many projects only complete high-level desktop-based hydrostatic test planning during the detailed design phase of a project. However, the potential cost and schedule impacts far outweigh the extra costs required to complete proper pre-planning during the detailed engineering phase of a project.