Hydrocarbon pipelines are exposed to hazards from natural processes, which may affect their integrity and trigger processes that have consequences on the environment. Among the natural hazards are the effects of the earthquakes, the neotectonic activity, the volcanism, the weathering of soils and rocks, the landslides, the flows or avalanches of mud or debris, the processes related to sediment transport such as the erosion, the scour by streams, the floods and the sloughing due to rains. Those processes are sometimes related to each other, e.g. the earthquakes can produce slides, or movement of geological faults, or soil liquefaction; the rain can trigger landslides and can cause avalanches and mudslides or debris flow; the volcanic eruptions can originate landslides and avalanches, or pyroclastic flows. Human activities can also induce or accelerate “natural” processes that affect the integrity of the pipelines. The strength and stiffness of the pipelines allow them to tolerate the effects of natural hazards for some period of time. The amount of time depends on the strength and deformability, the stress state, the age, the conditions of installation and operation of the pipelines and their geometric arrangement with regard to the hazardous processes. In the programs for pipeline integrity management, the risk is defined as a function that relates the probability of the pipeline rupture and the consequences of the failure. However, some people define risk as the summation of the indicators of probability and consequences, such as a RAM matrix. Others define the risk as the product of the probability of failure times the cost of the consequences, while the overall function used to evaluate the rupture probability of a pipeline facing hazards considered in the ASME b31.8 S standard includes all the elements involved in the failure process. In that standard, for the specific analysis of natural hazards, it is proposed that the function is separated in the two following principal elements: the probability of occurrence of the threatening process (hazard) and the pipeline’s capacity to tolerate it. In this paper a general function is proposed, which is the product of the probability of occurrence of the threatening process, the vulnerability of the pipeline (expressed as the fraction of the potential damage the pipe can undergo), and the consequences of the pipeline failure (represented in the summation of the costs of the spilled product, its collection, the pipeline repair and the damages made by the rupture).

The OCENSA pipeline crosses the Valley of the Magdalena river flood on its way to the Caribbean Sea, the area of the valley is commonly inundated during the rainy season on shallow waters that remain flooded swamps. These swamps soils are composed by extremely soft peat with thicknesses greater than 15 meters. In June 2016 started the construction of a highway with an embankment of 6 meters in height which was more than 30 meters away from the OCENSA 30” pipeline, Due to the high compressibility of peat, to construct the road the soil is subjected to a process of consolidation and the height of the embankment was corrected adding more material. In July 29 2016 occurs a failure by load capacity on the ground under the embankment and as a result of this fault a lateral displacement of the adjacent soil producing a horizontal displacement in the pipeline of more than 50 cm. This document shows results from the affectation to the pipe and the measures taken to correct the situation.

Technological advances have improved pipeline capacity to accommodate large ground deformation associated with earthquakes, floods, landslides, tunneling, deep excavations, mining, and subsidence. The fabrication of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) piping, for example, can be modified by expanding PVC pipe stock to approximately twice its original diameter, thus causing PVC molecular chains to realign in the circumferential direction. This process yields biaxially oriented polyvinyl chloride (PVCO) pipe with increased circumferential strength, reduced pipe wall thickness, and enhanced cross-sectional flexibility. This paper reports on experiments performed at the Cornell University Large-Scale Lifelines Testing Facility characterizing PVCO pipeline performance in response to large ground deformation. The evaluation was performed on 150-mm (6-in.)-diameter PVCO pipelines with bell-and-spigot joints. The testing procedure included determination of fundamental PVCO material properties, axial joint tension and compression tests, four-point bending tests, and a full-scale fault rupture simulation. The test results show the performance of segmental PVCO pipelines under large ground deformation is strongly influenced by the axial pullout and compressive load capacity of the joints, as well as their ability to accommodate deflection and joint rotation. The PVCO pipeline performance is quantified in terms of its capacity to accommodate horizontal ground strain, and compared with a statistical characterization of lateral ground strains caused by soil liquefaction during the Canterbury earthquake sequence in New Zealand.

Planet Earth has recently witnessed a change in the behavior of climate variables (including temperature, rainfall, etc.), primarily attributed to global warming. This climate change is a threat that is materializing and has affected elements of the infrastructure, ecosystems, and environmental conditions worldwide, as well as the National Development Plans [“Planes Nacionales de Desarrollo”] . The hydrocarbon-transport infrastructure in Colombia has not escaped the effects of climate variability. Therefore, a strategy must be devised to manage the risk and to adapt these systems in the light of potential harmful effects, and also to supplement or improve the mitigation measures for the effects generated by the oil industry through its operations. Climate disturbances lead to an increase in the likelihood of landslides, wildfires, floods, avalanches, and other natural hazards. The major climate changes that have been identified and that may affect hydrocarbon-transfer systems in Colombia are the following ones: • A gradual increase in temperature. • Changes in the patterns and amounts of rainfall. • A rise in sea level. • An increase in the severity and frequency of extreme weather events. The strategy for adapting the hydrocarbon-transport systems in light of climate change focuses primarily on the following points: 1. Acquiring more knowledge about the climatic changes that are expected to occur in Colombia, including the change in the major climatic variables and their georeferencing. 2. Diagnosing the transport systems and their spatial correlation with future climate scenarios. 3. Identifying the industries or elements of the infrastructure that are most vulnerable to the expected climatic changes. 4. Proposing measures that will add strength and/or resilience, so that the elements of the system can resist the effects of climate change, or overcome them within a short period of time, without affecting the Business. 5. Prioritizing the interventions to be performed at sites that are critical to the Business. 6. Monitoring and tracking the climatic variables in order to adjust the susceptibility models in light of the major impacts (e.g., landslides). The primary goal of this paper is to outline the initiative that has been proposed by the Technical Asset Management Bureau [“Gerencia Técnica de Activos”] (GTA) of Ecopetrol’s Office of the Vice President for Transportation and Logistics [“Vicepresidencia de Transporte y Logística”] (VIT Ecopetrol) in order to adapt the currently operating transport systems so that they can deal with climate change, while ensuring their healthful and safe operation, in compliance with the applicable technical legal requirements. Another goal of this paper is to highlight the advances that have been made by the GTA in the procurement, compilation, analysis, and use of climate information and geotechnical data as basic elements of risk management.

The experience gained during the operation and maintenance stages of the Camisea pipeline transportation system (STD) in Peru, crossing from the Tropical jungle in the Cusco region to the coast, in Lima city, has enabled us to develop and apply techniques in construction and maintenance works focused on controlling of the vertical undermining of riverbeds and the erosion of margins at river crossings and creeks crossed by the pipeline carrying NG and NGL. According to the above, a technical assessment study was conducted of the crosses rivers and creeks that have high priority of the Camisea pipeline path, comprising — among other disciplines — hydraulic and undermining analysis, as well as an hydrologic and geo-morphological evaluation and other issues regarding general geology and geo-techniques at each crossing site. A work program was developed using the information obtained in the three sectors travelled by the (STD) in order to develop and complement works at the crossings of rivers and valleys aiming to protect the integrity of the pipeline from erosion produced by major and extraordinary floods in riverbeds and alluvial slides in narrow valleys, by means of confinement and sedimentation works. The jobs performed in rainforest, mountain and coastal terrain crossed by the pipeline considered different river morphology types — being the most common the straight, gravel braided and curved river travels — and regimes in both flow speed and width of the riverbed. From the topographic follow-up and monitoring stage on — before and after the rain season — at crossings beneath the riverbeds, it was determined that the deterioration process affecting the crossing stripe corresponds to erosion consisting in the alteration of the watercourse banks that affects the piping foundations. The works are completed considering the type of resources available at the site of the river crossing — i. e., the engineering is particular to each sector, and designing is performed upon available materials in the area. The most utilized works at river and creeks crossings on the Camisea piping system are as follows: i) protection of riverbeds and creeks slopes using gabion mesh and pads; ii) sedimentation systems on gabion mesh; iii) Energy dissipation devices at creeks crossings; iv) rip-rap –type armoring of riverbeds; v) confinement check dams ; vi) marginal protection dikes; vii) marginal protection rock fill dams; viii) protection and sedimentation breakwaters, among others.

Linear works, such as highways, power lines, gas and oil pipelines among others, as well as other types of engineering works can be threaten by natural hazards, such as landslides, floods, erosions, earthquakes, hurricanes, seaquakes and others, which could lead to great environmental impacts, very high sum of money lost and even deaths. Aiming to reduce geological and geotechnical risks, preventive or corrective actions can be executed from the design phase to the operational and maintenance stages in pipelines. In this last phase, an integrity management plan of these facilities can be adopted, with the purpose of mitigating residual risks that had not been covered on the design and construction phases. One of the alternatives to implement an integrity management of gas pipelines is found in the code “Managing System Integrity of Gas Pipelines” – ASME B31.8S (2005). However, this code has some limitations in actions concerning to prevention, identification and correction of geological and geotechnical problems. This paper presents information about geotechnical risks in transmission pipelines and tools applied in identification, prevention and correction of geotechnical problems in pipelines, as well as, others with potential to be applied in pipelines. A basic pipeline integrity management plan focused in geotechnical risks is proposed in the paper, transcribed as a contribution to ASME B31.8S Code. This plan is composed by actions: from identification, prevention, evaluation and analysis to correction of geotechnical instabilities in pipelines. The plan is composed by a flowchart with all actions selected for the geotechnical risk care. The plan was developed based on directions set in ASME B31.8S Code, together with Brazilian, Italian and Canadian experiences.