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Check list for Cross country pipeline design

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a234f56

Mechanical
Jun 13, 2001
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Dear Friends,

Can anyone give me a checklist for the design of cross country pipelines?
Is there any method to calculate the manhours for engineering cross country pipelines (based on historical data)?

Thanks in advance,

S.BharathKumar
 
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Yes, people can do all of those things, but probably won't. You are asking for things that are very much local (it costs me more to build a pipeline in Colorado than in New Mexico for example and they are adjacent states in the same country, a fact that was pretty expensive to learn) both because of variations in the labor market and variations in regulatory requirements.

I have numbers that I use, but to share them would imply that: (1) they don't represent a competitive value to me; and (2) that I believed they were universal. Neither of these conditions are true.

When I prepare a cost estimate (or a pipeline design document), I have a list of things that I make sure happen (a checklist if you will, but it is more than that). My list is different than the next guy's list. Neither one is perfect. Neither one is worthless. Both lists represent the things that we've found important on previous jobs. The only way to develop that list in a format that means something to you is to do it wrong a couple of times. When I started, an old hand gave me his check list. I found that if I followed it exactly I would build crummy systems that didn't work very well (and ignored changes in local regulations). I quickly saw that and started building my own list.

David
 
a234f56

You don't calculate man-hours for a cross ocuntry pipeline - that is for plant work. Basically you build crews based on the work to be done and determine how many days it will take each crew (with the welding crew setting the pace as far as daily progress), including overheads & support.

It's not complicated, but also not conducive to sending a checklist. As David mentioned, everyone has their own methodology & models. I have bid work for many different mainline contractors and they all approach it a little different, but at the end of the day they are typically pretty competitive with each other and fairly accurate.

Greg Lamberson, BS, MBA
Consultant - Upstream Energy
Website:
 
Or you might not be close...

But I would figure out your historic $/(d - i - m) and take engineering at 3% - 5% of whatever that works out to be.

Regards,

SNORGY.
 
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