Alignment Selection Criteria for Pipelines Essential

Abstract

Engineering assessment, based on alignment selection criteria, is the essential part of a pipeline project because assessment at every phase of the planning process provides significant contributions in timing, environment, safety and cost. Three international projects are conducted in Turkey, i.e., Bak-Tbilisi-Ceyhan crude oil pipeline, Blue Stream natural gas pipeline, and Turkish Motorway. The assessment criteria and the basic phases to select the best construction line have not been taken into consideration in these projects. Thus, the foreseen cost in motorway projects increased over 500%. Environmental destruction in some of them went beyond the acceptable limits. The four main phases of a linear engineering structure project, i.e., corridor selection phase, route selection phase, alignment selection, and construction line, are discussed.