Natural Gas Pipeline Design

Cambria County, Pennsylvania

Michael Baker served as the designer of record for the design-build construction of a 6.5-mile, 20-inch steel natural gas transmission pipeline. The pipeline was designed and constructed within a 60-foot-wide easement adjacent to an in-service high-pressure natural gas transmission line that was decommissioned when the new transmission line was placed in service.

The pipeline design included the development of erosion and sediment control plans; cathodic protection plans; geotechnical reports; mechanical design of launchers and receivers; mechanical design of mainline block valves and bridle connections. Our team also provided engineering design services throughout construction. To account for unstable hillside location along the alignment, we provided subsurface geotechnical studies, designs and oversight for two horizontal directional drilling (HDD) bores of 650 feet and 2,200 feet in length along the alignment. Our team performed design alignment surveys and prepared detailed base mapping at two-foot contour intervals. Detailed alignment design drawings were created to avoid private properties and accommodate crossings over state highways, the Norfolk Southern Railroad and the Conemaugh River.

Our construction support services included the preparation of hydrostatic test plans, construction alignment and right-of-way stakeout, and preparation of as-built drawings and pipe tally and weld as-built information.

Environmental and permitting services included field delineation of all wetland resources encountered within the pipeline’s right-of-way. We acquired permits and approvals from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, the Cambria County Conservation District, the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. We also prepared an endangered species survey report for rattlesnake habitats in the project area.