Neches
River
Sometime in 1976, key personel from StarTrak
were asked to provide plan
and profile information on a pipeline crossing
the Neches River. Using
the latest technology of the day, a shrimp boat
to carry all the
equipment, we never saw an indication of the
pipeline.
Fast forward to 2003, this exact same crossing
took 10 hrs to
completely inspect using StarTrak's latest
technology. Plan and profile
drawings were completed next day.
Speedy
In
2003 StarTrak was asked to Inspect 9 pipelines
at 2 locations in
Mississippi and Alalbama, location 1 had 2 lines
crossing a 700 ft wide
river while the other location had 7 pipelines
crossing a 600ft wide
river.
Including travel time it took StarTrak personnel
8 days from leaving
our office till our return upon completion.
Houston
Ship
Channel.
November
of
1997, StarTrak was
contracted to perform a
hazard type survey for Paragon Engineering
Services on behalf of Arco
and
Bayer.
Required
was
to locate all
services in a proposed R.O.W.
(Right of Way) for a newly designed pipeline
system. The operation
started
at the West Side water's edge of San Jacinto
Bay, the survey
incorporated
Spillman’s Island, The Houston Ship Channel
and Tabbs Bay.
Services
to
be located and
accurately profiled were pipelines
running adjacent to the proposed R.O.W. also
all of the foreign lines
which
crossed the proposed R.O.W.
The
survey was conducted by
StarTrak technical field personnel
using their unique "One-Pass" Marine survey
system which accurately
defined
both horizontal and vertical coordinates,
simultaneously captivating
geographical
survey information (DGPS)
Spillman’s
Island
provided a
challenge as it is made up
of spoil from the Houston Ship Channel. It was
not possible to stand on
the spoil or use an all terrain vehicle. This
operation was conducted
from
an air boat, when winds and weather
permitted.
An
unknown line was located and
traced through 13m. (40
ft). of overburden.
The
entire operation was
completed, including drawings
prior to the Christmas break to the delight of
all three clients
evolved
in this portion of the operation.
This
is
but one of many StarTrak
success stories of around
the world pipeline services and
troubleshooting
S.P.A.
(China)
Commissions River Crossing Survey System.
Sichuan
Petroleum Authority (SPA)
of the Peoples Republic
of China has purchased a complete set of
StarTrak's "One-Pass"
Automatic
River Crossing Survey System.
The
system has been recently
commissioned in Chengdu,
Sichuan Province with eight engineers being
trained in the art of
marine
surveying and CAD drafting.
Whilst
in Sichuan, P.R.C., surveys
on the Yangtze and
Zonghe Rivers were completed.
On the
Yangtze River a major
cathodic problem was located,
identified and verified. Both sets of data
have been verified by and
accepted
by S.P.A.
S.P.A.
was very pleased with both
the results and equipment.
The San Jacinto River Incident 1994
In October
1994, torrential rains in the Houston area
caused the San Jacinto River
to change course just north of Interstate
10. This left a sub-division
of houses stranded on an island, and several
pipelines spanning the new
river channel.
Unfortunately,
a 40" major
products pipeline severed sending 1000's of
barrels of product into the
river. This caused the authorities to
close down flow on any
pipeline crossing the San Jacinto
river in that area.
StarTrak's
crews were finishing up
a project in Alberta. Due to the necessity
of getting the pipelines
crossing the San Jacinto River operational,
StarTrak crews flew home
and were able to certify 6 pipelines safe
for operations before any
competitor was able to start work.
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