The proposed pipeline will be placed almost entirely within the existing streets. Construction will typically proceed at 300 to 500 feet per day. In addition to the pipeline construction work, construction activities at the terminals and pump stations will also include welding, pipefitting, carpentry, electrical and general labor.
Construction Schedule
The proposed pipeline construction schedule is expected to commence in the first quarter of 1999 for approximately 6 months. Construction of the proposed pipeline currently anticipates the use of one construction "spread." Within this spread, most aspects of pipeline construction will occur along the alignment. Fencing, highway and river crossings, block valve installation, and terminal facility construction will be accomplished by specialized construction crews supporting the spread.
Landowners and tenants adjacent to the Right-of-Way (ROW) will be notified in advance of construction in their area. Construction will generally take place in off-peak periods, including night construction where permitted, to minimize impacts to traffic and industrial or commercial business activities. Construction adjacent to sensitive noise receptors such as hospitals, schools, residences, and recreational facilities will be restricted as necessary. Temporary alternative vehicle and pedestrian access will also be established. In the case of small retail businesses, temporary signs will be installed to inform patrons that such businesses were open and to direct them to the proper access. Usual access will be maintained when possible. Construction during holidays will be minimized when possible. The project will also comply with specific permit requirements regarding access established by each relevant municipality.
Labor Force
Approximately 95 personnel will be employed on the project during the peak construction period. Approximately 60 percent of the workforce will be skilled, and 40 percent unskilled labor with a majority of the work force likely originating from southern California, mainly from the Los Angeles Basin.
A pipeline construction spread will be composed of several units, which will be organized to proceed with the work in the following general order: pre-construction activity; ditching; hauling and stringing the line pipe; pipe bending, line-up and welding; weld inspection; applying protective coating to the weld joints; lowering and tying in; backfilling; hydrostatic testing; and ROW cleanup and street resurfacing. Special construction crews will be used for fence building, road, railroad, and waterway bored crossings, and block valve installation.
Utility and Services Requirements
Construction equipment requires both gasoline and diesel fuel. Estimated consumption per spread per day is 300 gallons of gasoline and 2,000 gallons of diesel fuel. Water from water districts or treatment plants will be used as necessary to control fugitive dust and to wash streets as a supplement to sweeping streets. A total use of 10,000 gallons of water per day is estimated for these purposes. In addition to the daily construction water needs, hydrostatic testing of the pipeline will also require the use of water. The estimated volume of water required to test the proposed 16-inch pipeline is approximately 675,000 gallons. Hydrotest water will be obtained from local water districts. Project construction will not require significant electrical power. Where needed, generators will be used onsite for power. No telephone service will be required for construction activities other than communications through mobile phones. Construction activities will not require the use of natural gas.
Pipeline Construction Methods within Right-of-Way (ROW)
The ROW for this project will be in existing paved streets except at waterway crossings, railroad crossings, and highway crossings. Since the pipeline construction ROW is located within major road corridors, construction will require closure of at least one lane of traffic to accommodate the construction ROW. Approval to construct and operate a pipeline will be obtained or authorized by franchise agreements or permits from the agencies with jurisdiction over the streets along the proposed route.
Emergency response providers near the proposed route will be notified in advance of construction locations, road closure schedules, and potential alternate routes. Schedules for necessary on-street parking closures will be published well in advance of the street closure. Directly affected businesses and residents will be given ample notice and information to plan alternatives. Signage will be provided to direct motorists to alternate routes. SFPP will work with local police and traffic engineers to plan appropriate access alternatives for temporary street closures and traffic disruptions. Traffic control requirements from municipalities will also be followed.
Where construction activities could adversely affect pedestrian access or transit stops, transit providers will be contacted to develop temporary alternatives with appropriate signage and public notification. Businesses along the pipeline route will be informed in advance of planned construction dates. Temporary signs will be installed and alternate vehicular and pedestrian access established. Existing access to businesses near the proposed route will be maintained throughout the construction period to the degree possible consistent with safe and efficient construction practices. Where such access must be temporarily disrupted, SFPP will provide advance notice and work with business operators to minimize disruptions.
SFPP will notify Underground Service Alert (USA) who will notify service providers of intended construction to avoid conflict with existing utilities and disruptions of service to utility customers.
Since construction will occur almost exclusively in paved streets, no extensive grading is proposed. No construction of roads and bridges, temporary diversion of streams or stabilization of soil to support heavy equipment is anticipated (procedures for river crossings are described in the Water Course Crossings Section below. Surface preparation includes breaking and removing pavement with concrete saws, pavement breakers, and where necessary, jack hammers. The broken debris will be hauled off to appropriate landfill sites or a crusher plant via dump trucks. An estimated 6 trucks per day, each having a 12 cubic yard capacity, will be required to haul the rubble away.
Ditching
SFPP proposes excavating a ditch for the pipeline that would be 7 feet deep (depending on the conditions encountered), using a total work area of up to 50 feet wide, and a typical trench width of 36 inches. The ditch is excavated using backhoes and track hoes; however, hand-digging would be used to locate buried utilities, such as other pipelines, cables, water mains and sewers.
Fugitive dust emissions at the construction site during earthmoving operations will be controlled by water trucks equipped with fine spray nozzles. Approximately 10,000 gallons of water will be used per day for dust suppression.
Spoils from cuts, including cuts in streets, are typically be used as backfill materials at the site of origin. In many areas, limited capacities are available at the local landfills. Thus, an effort will be made to minimize the amount of the excess material. Materials unsuitable for backfill use and economically not usable for other purposes will be disposed of in accordance with local and county guidelines in available landfills.
Pipe Handling
SFPP will use pipe-stringing trucks to transport the pipe in 40- to 80-foot lengths from the shipment point or storage yards to the pipeline ROW. Where sufficient room exists, trucks will carry the line pipe along the ROW, and sideboom tractors will unload the joints of pipe from the stringing trucks and lay them end to end beside the ditch line for future line-up and welding. The pipe will be bent by a portable bending machine to fit the contour of the ditch both vertically and horizontally.
Pipe Coating
SFPP plans to apply state of the industry pipeline coating at the mill before delivery to the construction site. However, field coating is necessary on all field weld joints made at the site in order to provide a continuous coating along the pipeline. After the pipe has been welded and radiographically inspected (x-rayed), the weld joints will be coated using either heat shrink polyethylene sleeves or polyken tape and tape primer.
A detection test will be conducted to locate any coating discontinuities that could permit moisture to reach the pipe, such as thinning, or other mechanical damage. The testing device (a holiday detector) develops an electrical potential between the pipe and an electrode in contact with the outside of the coating or ground. Pinholes in the coating of microscopic size can be located using the electrical detector. All coated pipe, including field joints, fittings, and bends will be tested and repaired as necessary after the pipe is in place, and prior to backfilling.
Lowering and Backfilling
The pipe will be lifted and lowered into the ditch and covered along the sides with a maximum of six inches of native fill free of rocks, and then covered on top with a minimum of 12 inches of fill free of rocks. At the time of backfilling, a colored warning tape is buried approximately 18 inches above the pipeline to the ground surface to indicate the presence of a buried pipeline to third-party excavators. The backfilled earth is compacted using a roller or hydraulic tamper prior to paving. The trench will be filled with slurry where required by local authorities. The slurry will be purchased from a local slurry plant and transported to the site. Steel plates will be used to cover any open trench left at the end of each workday.
Testing and Inspection
All field welding will be performed by qualified welders to the specifications of and in accordance with all applicable state and municipal ordinances, rules, and regulations. All welds will be radiographically inspected. In addition to standard mill testing of all pipe and fittings, hydrostatic testing will be performed after construction and prior to startup, in accordance with Federal regulations. Before the pipeline is used for petroleum products, SFPP will perform a hydrostatic test. This test is designed to prove that the pipe, fittings, and weld sections will maintain mechanical integrity without failure or leakage under pressure, and involves filling a test section of the pipeline with fresh water and increasing pressure to about 1,800 psig, a level at least 1.25 times the pipeline maximum operating pressure.
Water Course Crossings
The Los Angeles River, Compton Creek, and San Gabriel River are the three waterways crossed by this project. Each of these waterways is a major improved storm water conveyance channel in the project area. The pipeline will be bored to cross beneath the Los Angeles River. Conventional boring requires bore pits (of approximately 15 to 30 feet long by 8 feet wide) on each side of the waterway.
SFPP proposes to use open cut construction at the Compton Creek crossing, which involves cutting a trench across Compton Creek from bank to bank using backhoes, bulldozers, and draglines to prepare the ditch. The trench will be deep enough to allow the pipe to be placed a minimum of 5 feet below the 100-year scour depth of the stream channel. The creek will be crossed during the normal period of low flow, and the creek will be returned to its original configuration, substrate replaced, banks stabilized, and revegetated as necessary. It is anticipated that a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nationwide Permit No. 12 (Utility Line Discharges) will be obtained for this crossing.
In order to cross the San Gabriel River, the pipeline will be placed on an existing bridge or bored beneath the channel (depending on engineering factors such as the capacity of the bridge and the space available for boring equipment). Two existing bridges may be used for the pipeline to cross the San Gabriel River: along Artesia or Alondra Boulevards.
Highways, Railroad and Pipeline Crossings
In some cases, to prevent construction disturbance, the proposed pipeline will be bored underneath interstate highways, freeways, under other pipelines and utilities, and under railroads. In the same manner as a conventional stream boring, an entry and exit pit for the boring machine will be excavated using a backhoe on each side of the crossing.
Staging and Storage Areas
Wherever possible, construction material will be stored at the existing facilities of the contractors and suppliers providing equipment, supplies or labor to the project. Additional staging areas may be required but will typically be an empty warehouse, parking area, or developed area. No undisturbed areas will be used for these purposes. During all phases of construction, refueling and lubrication of construction equipment will occur at the Contractors’ staging yard or onsite. Equipment will be regularly checked for leakage.
All construction materials will be taken to the construction site by truck on existing roadways. For pipe delivery by truck it is assumed that each truck would carry nine 60- to 80-foot lengths of pipe. When street rubble and spoils must be hauled offsite, the number of dump truck trips could reach 23 trips per day (assuming a 400-foot trench per day and 12 cubic yard capacity trucks).