Pipeline reinforced at MP652

Petroleum News Alaska Staff

Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. recently installed two 4-foot steel sleeves on the outside of the pipeline to reinforce pipe strength around two areas affected by corrosion, said the company in a May 4 press release.

Specially configured “pigs,” sent through the pipeline, ultrasonically detected the corrosion at Mile Post 652 (along the Richardson Highway) in a section of buried and refrigerated pipe designed to allow animal crossings.

Some degree of pipe settlement had caused its insulating jacket to crack, which then allowed water to seep beneath the welds’ protective tape, and eventually caused the corrosion.

The ninth of 10 sites identified for inspection this year, MP652 was the only one that needed major maintenance and repair work. Begun in February, the $4.5 million inspection project should continue through August.