The TANAP Project aims to transport Azeri Natural Gas from the Shah Deniz gas field and other fields of Azerbaijan.
The TANAP Project aims to transport Azeri Natural Gas from the Shah Deniz gas field and other fields of Azerbaijan, and possibly from other neighbouring countries, to Turkey and through the downstream Trans-Adriatic Pipeline to Europe. It will be one of the world's longest gas pipelines upon completion.
Trans Anatolia Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) awarded the WorleyParsons Group a five year contract for the supply of Engineering, Procurement and Construction Management (EPCM) services for the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline Project and the Advisian team provided geomatics services to the project.
Advisian’s GIS team created a central repository (CGIS) responsible for storing all TANAP project geospatial master data. This was the ultimate single source of spatial data across the entire project and was made up of multiple databases along with quality assurance workflows to maintain the lineage and capture metadata. At the end of each day an automated process replicated the entire Detailed Design collection of seven databases from the London Master database to the Ankara GIS hub.
The CGIS contained geospatial data from FEED, detailed design, alignment sheets, as-built survey data, topological data, digital elevation models and multimedia files. This was encased in a very rigid data management structure that ensured data integrity at all times. The CGIS mirrored the physical design and build in a digital format, in real-time and eliminated the traditional time lags in availability for digital review between the design, construction and as-built data.
There were a number of critical project systems and processes that the CGIS supported and underpinned. These systems performed a variety of functions, from ProjectSight, a secure in-house web portal which provided quick and easy access to up to date project information for all stakeholders, to the Alignment Sheet Production system.
The detailed design data was continuously updated with input from the various project stakeholders with a purpose to aid decision making. Data revisions went through a change management process and new data was checked for errors to ensure it met project standards.
An Alignment Sheet Module (ALSM) was developed to assist project engineers in reviewing and validating both IAAC Alignment Sheet data as well as as-built survey data during the construction phase. Users could spatially view and search on engineering band data in an interactive web interface.
The GIS team developed a hybrid ProjectSight system to fuse together the existing project spatial information with as-built information from Pipetrak IT. Pipetrak IT, developed by the EPCM's sub-contractor Petro IT, is a web-based solution for tracking and monitoring pipeline construction.
The team developed a module that allowed the operations engineers quick and easy access to the final pipeline model stored in Pipeline Open Data Standard (PODS) database along with tools to manage the data.
The Advisian Geomatics team provided the client with the production of 1,500 automated Alignment Sheets for the detailed design phase using database driven techniques. The 1,841km long pipeline crosses five projection zones with an elevation profile ranging from -67m to 2,775m above sea level. There were 6,680 crossing points along the alignment, of which 10 were major fault locations and 166 were major river, rail, gas pipeline and road crossings requiring additional specialist crossing drawings. There have been 41 re-routes to date.
Since the Alignment Sheet data is all database driven, it enabled the data to be accessed and analysed by engineers more quickly. It could be combined with other supporting data via specific tools and modules developed within ProjectSight.
By utilising the expertise of the Advisian geomatics team, the project had many benefits:
- The database was easily configurable to suit the requirements of the individual users.
- Users could simultaneously access large amounts of ancillary information during review session (flood modelling, environmental surveys, terrain information, site photos, etc.) to assist in resolving queries by combining the Alignment Sheet Module (ASLM) with the existing ProjectSight web portal.
- Hybrid web portal provided near real time access to spatial progress and as-built engineering data showing where construction teams were located, location of the laid pipe and clearing progress.
- The GIS-based alignment sheets not only introduced cost/time savings, but also linked the process of data/information management, ensuring accurate and current engineering data.
