Rapid geohazard assessment system for the UK Natural Gas Pipeline Network

摘要

The British Geological Survey (BGS) and National Grid Transco (NGT) have produced a new GIS for the rapid assessment of the potential for a significant geohazard to adversely affect any section of the UK natural gas pipeline transmission network. NGT is responsible for the safety and maintenance of the 18 000 km long high-pressure transmission network that supplies gas to business and domestic consumers across the UK.udHealth and Safety Legislation in the UK requires NGT to demonstrate that the risks to individuals living and working in the vicinity of gas pipelines are adequately managed. In order to enhance its capabilities for assessing the risks due to geological ground conditions NGT required detailed information about the distribution and potential severity of geohazards across the UK. BGS, as the primary holder of national geological hazard data in the UK, were commissioned to design suitable GIS layers as part of the risk assessment methodology.udOf the many geohazards that affect the UK, landsliding and the dissolution of soluble rocks were considered to pose the greatest threat to the transmission network. Other hazards, such as clay shrinkage, running sand and compressible ground, were considered to be of significance only during pipeline construction and were not thought likely to cause rupture during operation. BGS national hazard datasets for landslide and dissolution hazard were truncated to buffer zones centred upon the pipeline. These data were enhanced by detailed information from the BGS National Landslide Database and Karst Database.udThe result of this research was a set of continuous GIS layers that show the level of potential hazard from landsliding or dissolution of soluble rocks at any location on the pipeline network in the UK. NGT will be using this data to: improve their risk assessment methodology in this area; inform discussions on pipeline safety with their safety regulator and to improve their surveillance strategies where it is considered that geohazards represent a potential threat to the integrity of the pipeline.