TransCanada pipeline maintenance crews recently completed a challenging $8 million project on the Western Alberta System Extension (WASE).

The pipeline maintenance involved running an ultrasonic inline inspection tool through the 168 kilometer (104.4 miles) section between the Clarkson Valley compressor station and the Knight compressor station. The section needed to be modified to allow a 1.3 km-long (0.8 mile) water slug to be propelled through it. The water slug was necessary to transport the ultrasonic inspection tool with three batch pigs in front of and behind it.

Using TransCanada’s industry-leading quantitative risk assessment methodology, the Pipeline Integrity group identified the need for the ultrasonic inspection in April 2006 and added the maintenance project to the previously identified schedule for the year. The 2006 pipeline maintenance program is the largest for TransCanada in the last five years.

“This was truly a team effort as key experts from TransCanada and numerous external vendors and suppliers all pulled together to make this happen,” says David Chittick, manager, Pipeline Integrity. In total, 30 TransCanada employees and 80 external contractors worked during the four-day long inspection run on the Western Alberta System Expansion.

TransCanada previously completed an ultrasonic inline inspection on the same section of the WASE in 1999. Currently, no other proven inline inspection tool exists to find cracks in gas pipelines and TransCanada continues to collaborate with vendors and suppliers to develop inline inspection alternatives.

David says the data gathered during the test is now being compiled into a report, which will be available in the First Quarter. The information will be used to determine where maintenance will be completed on the WASE.

For more information on the WASE maintenance project, contact David Chittick, manager, Pipeline Integrity at 403.920.5868.