|
PETROLEUM DIRECTORY: Michael Baker Jr. Inc.: Energy and Engineering Complex challenges are invitation to innovate Susan Braund Petroleum Directory Contributing Writer
Michael Baker Jr. Inc. left cheechako status behind long ago; after 60 years of cold regions engineering in Alaska, it has certainly attained the rank of sourdough and could be closing in on the title of full-fledged pioneer.
Starting up in 1940 as a surveying and engineering consulting firm, the parent company, Michael Baker Corp., has its roots in civil infrastructure and transportation systems support, later expanding into civil, structural and mechanical engineering. Post-World War II, the company gained momentum and notoriety in pipeline, highway, tunnel and bridge design. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pa., Michael Baker Corp. has 4,500 employees in 30 states and 14 countries. It ranks in the top 10 percent among the nation’s top 500 design firms.
“Michael Baker Jr. Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Michael Baker Corporation,” says Alaska Operations Manager John Eldred, “Over the years, Baker engineers have designed and managed diverse and innovative projects throughout the nation.”
According to Eldred, the company has two focused markets: energy and engineering. Baker Engineering serves infrastructure clients through its transportation, architectural, environmental and civil groups; Baker Energy performs operations and maintenance related services for energy clients. Energy With an emphasis on efficiency through technology, Baker Energy’s Applied Technologies group deals with the more technical aspects of maintenance and operations. “We bridge the gap between the commissioning and start-up efforts through various kinds of training and technology. Before systems-go, we do walkthroughs and provide operations manuals and videos,” says Eldred. “This is valuable to the client. Some clients are very proactive, and receive savings up front and on the back end. Others treat projects as major inventory events and start up is an after thought.”
Additional Applied Technology services are comprehensive spare parts and maintenance reviews. A key Baker service is Computer Maintenance Management Systems, or CMMS. Baker performs the data build, develops the deep database for spare parts and maintenance scheduling and provides reports and daily schedules of maintenance and parts needs, from major equipment down to nuts and bolts. “CMMS is very sophisticated and becoming more so. In fact, we are a global hoster, sort of the Yahoo for CMMS! We build the data base, maintain it, provide the data input and server, order reports and schedules,” says Eldred. “CMMS in general allows you to operate, plan and maintain your operation in an orderly fashion, cutting out the peaks and valleys of maintenance swings and avoiding dangerous run-to-failure. The reliability increases the cost effectiveness of your operation. It works especially well for a smaller operator who does not want in-house IT people, server or data input.”
The question, however, is, how deep is too deep into parts replacement and placement monitoring? When is it overkill? “Criticality and consequences of failure are good measures,” he explains. “If you are going to do it right, you have to look at the individual pieces.” Operations The operations end of the energy sector uses various models: “One model is basically an expert service provider. We provide experts — highly skilled manpower,” says Eldred. “This usually comes into play when the operators want to retain control, but doesn’t want to directly employ the resources.”
The other model — Managed Services — involves variations of control, from operating specific areas to running the entire operation.
“Running the entire operation is our preferred model for the oilfield. We are the second largest operator in the Gulf of Mexico, but not an owner. As property managers we run it all: operations, maintenance, logistics and drilling. This model provides cost sharing, which brings everyone’s costs down.” Baker Energy has also taken this model onshore in the Texas Panhandle and the Powder River basin, and has full operational responsibility for a particular customer’s producing fields in those regions. Engineering Although Baker has been busy integrating its energy services expertise into the Alaska mix, it continues to offer its traditional buffet of engineering services but now concentrating more on fine-tuning engineering, design, and construction.
“Our technical expertise is in high-level specialty end engineering services, not straightforward design. We look at a lot of factors, and capability and years of experience go into it,” says Eldred. “We know what’s practical. There’s value in knowing where to stop and not over-design. People inherently over-design.”
An example of the expertise available is the service provided when the trans-Alaska pipeline shut down after a 7.9 earthquake south of Delta Junction in November 2003. Baker was called within hours to assess the damage. “The design worked; it performed as expected. The pipeline moved in both horizontal and vertical directions, but within the limits of the design. The earthquake shifts and associated ground shaking did cause damage to the TAPS aboveground support system. We are now completing corrective redesign.” The work will be implemented this summer. Hydrology A large part of Baker’s recent engineering work has focused on hydrology. Baker water resources professionals provide all types of water resources related services, from river engineering to environmental assessments.
Baker currently plays a key role in the hydrologic work for ConocoPhillips Alaska’s North Slope Alpine field, performing yearly spring breakup assessments.
When ARCO Alaska (now ConocoPhillips) began development of the Alpine field, Baker addressed several key civil engineering issues. As the Alpine pipeline crosses the Colville River Delta, siting was a particular challenge. Topography along the very flat pipeline route ranges from common tundra to a flooded and shallow lake ecosystem. The available meterologic or hydrologic data was limited.
Baker engineers developed a two-dimensional surface water model using data collected through hydrologic survey techniques. The study included cross-section surveys of the floodplain, channel cross-sections surveyed at two-mile intervals, and other factors. Regulatory agencies readily accepted the model’s findings. Baker continues to use this cost-effective surface water model using information collected over the last four years. Pipeline expertise “We’re not a large pipeline designer; we tend to the technical details to make sure of design modeling, soil interactions and other leveraging design issues.” says Eldred.
For designing the first horizontal, directionally drilled pipeline in the Arctic, Baker received the Alaska and Northwest District Civil Engineering achievement of the Year award in 1999 for the section of the Alpine pipeline that passes under the Colville River. Another Alpine pipeline innovation was the vertical loop concept. The loops create artificial terrain breaks, creating a spill isolation function superior to valves.
During trans-Alaska pipeline construction in the 1970s the company provided mile-by-mile pipeline design north of the Yukon and the haul road. Baker was also the pipeline and arctic civil infrastructure engineer the ConocoPhillips Alpine project. On the Kenai-Kachemak Gas Pipeline, the company also performed conceptual engineering, route alternative studies, and final design, including GIS development, creating a series of layers using background satellite imagery, local and state highways, topography, wetlands, streams, land ownership status and locations of gas prospects. Baker created hard and soft copy maps to support further analysis, public meetings, and permit applications for the project and documents to supplement permit applications. Ask the pioneers Baker is sought after for its experience and expertise. It is the newly selected technical consultant for the Office of Pipeline Safety in the Office of Homeland Security “Baker’s current role is providing technical guidance on specialized issues. It’s good exposure for us,” says Eldred. “Baker brings a great deal of expertise to the table. If clients invest in our services early on, they experience value downstream. Our depth of experience adds value.”
Editor’s note: Susan Braund owns Firestar Media Services in Anchorage, Alaska.
|
