Geotechnical News• December 2019
49
GEOHAZARDS
Additionally, the benefit of capturing
the wealth of peer-reviewed technical
articles related to the book’s scope has
not been overlooked. Related articles
have been compiled in a bibliography,
with articles cross-referenced to indi-
vidual chapters in the book.
Pipeline geohazard management
Increasingly, the practices of prudent
pipeline owners include proactive
management of this class of threats
in response to business drivers. These
best practices are due to at least two
factors, namely:
1. There are heightened expecta-
tions of pipeline companies from
the external stakeholders includ-
ing regulators and the public at
large. Ensuring public safety and
accepting a role of environmental
stewardship are now accepted as
integral parts of business.
2. Financially, operators need to
optimize internal expenditures
associated with all aspects of pipe-
line integrity management. Prudent
operators strive to move from
reactive to proactive and predictive
prevention for all hazards includ-
ing geohazards. Increasingly, risk-
based assessment and integrity
management planning practices
provide the basis of predictive
prevention through a defendable
methodology to support optimized
expenditure profiles from year to
year.
Several key philosophical points in
developing the content of the pipeline
geohazard management chapters of
this book are as follows:
1. While mindful of corporate respon-
sibilities to the environment in
the pipeline’s vicinity, decisions
related to pipeline construction and
integrity management with respect
to geohazards should be managed
from the pipeline out as opposed
to a purely geotechnical treatment
of the hazard. In other words, a
pipe-centric fitness for purpose
perspective should be adopted in
Figure 4: Cradle boring setup (Image ©Mike Wagner, used by permission).
Figure 5a: Geohazards affected
by seismic and precipitation trig-
gers, landslide triggered by seismic
activity on the Denali Fault, Alaska
(photo ©Rod Read, used by permis-
sion).
Figure 5b: Debris flow associated with heavy, prolonged precipitation and
snowmelt in western Canada (photo ©Rod Read, used by permission).
