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PETROLEUM DIRECTORY: Lounsbury and Associates tackles a wide variety of engineering projects The company’s surveyors and engineers have amassed vast experience in overcoming Alaska’s civil engineering challenges Alan Bailey Petroleum Directory Contributing Writer
Whether you’re moving a drilling rig along a gravel road on Alaska’s North Slope or driving along a state highway, it’s easy to overlook the expert planning and design that goes into the roads, highways and other engineered structures that people use every day.
Since 1949, Lounsbury and Associates Inc. has planned and designed roads, commercial developments and residential neighborhoods in Alaska. Although originally specializing in surveying, the company expanded into civil engineering in the late 1950s. The company now operates offices in Anchorage and Wasilla.
Lounsbury and Associates has provided services for the oil industry since the early oil and gas developments on the Kenai Peninsula.
“We’re still primarily a surveying firm, as far as the oil field work goes … we also do civil engineering,” Jim Sawhill, vice president of Lounsbury and Associates told Petroleum News. North Slope infrastructure During the initial development of Prudhoe Bay, Lounsbury and Associates pioneered the surveying and design for some of the infrastructure on the North Slope.
“We’ve been up there ever since,” Sawhill said.
The bulk of Lounsbury and Associates' engineering work on the North Slope has consisted of the design and construction management of the gravel roads and pads that link and support oilfield facilities.
“We've been providing road and pad design for the satellite fields at Kuparuk,” Sawhill said. “I worked on the Palm project last year, which was very successful, and the Tarn project before that.”
In the company's latest project, Lounsbury and Associates has started designing the pad for the Colville Delta North satellite.
“We've been working with ConocoPhillips on the preliminary design of that development,” Sawhill said. “It's north of Alpine, about five or six miles out in the delta. That's a challenging project because it'll be roadless ... just a single pad and an airstrip.” New gravel pads and roads In a project such as Colville Delta North, reservoir engineers use subsurface exploration and seismic data to determine the latitude and longitude of an optimum well location. Lounsbury and Associates then has to find a surface site where it's feasible to lay gravel and where impact to the environment is minimal.
In a project requiring an access road, routing also may impact the location of the well. For example, an awkward river crossing might rule out an otherwise suitable well pad location.
“We've got to work with the reservoir engineers to get the best location,” Sawhill said. “We're balancing the road and pad costs with the drilling costs.”
Once Lounsbury and Associates has identified the best location for a pad or an approximate routing for a road, a team prepares a detailed design for the project. The company brings specialists into the team for tasks such as designing culverts, drainage and bridges.
“Choosing a route is a big part of it,” Sawhill said. “There's a lot of ponds, and you try to stay on the best ground you can.” Laying gravel During construction, Lounsbury and Associates assesses and monitors the supply of suitable gravel to lay onto the tundra. Construction takes place during the winter.
“Placing gravel on the slope is difficult because it’s winter construction, so the gravel is frozen,” Sawhill said.
The high water content of the North Slope gravel can result in as much as 20 to 30 percent settlement during the spring thaw, so a road that looks fine during the winter may become impassable after the thaw.
“Knowing how to work gravel — to get it thawed, drained, healed up and passable — is a very challenging process,” Sawhill said. It’s especially important to minimize sand and silt content so the thawed gravel will drain quickly.
“The gravel pit quality control is a pretty key element in road construction,” Sawhill said.
This quality control brings its own set of challenges on the Slope.
“You’re in the dark, the wind's blowing, the snow’s piling up, you're blasting — it’s a tough environment,” Sawhill said.
Once the gravel has thawed and drained in the spring, the contractor can compact and grade it. Lounsbury and Associates then works with the construction contractor to ensure the completed project meets the required standards.
“We measure to make sure they reach the optimum compaction,” Sawhill said. “We're putting big loads on these roads — we're running drilling rigs down them — so we need to have a good solid base that will support them.” Highway design In addition to designing gravel roads on the North Slope, Lounsbury and Associates has established a long history of designing highways and roads elsewhere in Alaska.
“We do Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities highway work and Municipality of Anchorage road improvement projects,” Sawhill said.
Past assignments have included reconstruction of the section of the Sterling Highway leading down the hill into Homer. The company currently is working on a road project in Ambler and the environmental assessment for the upgrade of Trunk Road in Wasilla.
“Right now one of our large DOT projects is the new construction at Dowling Road,” Sawhill said. “They're going to put roundabouts at the Seward Highway off ramp intersections.”
The impact of these big public projects on the local communities requires careful and thoughtful planning. Public involvement early on has become critical to success — people need to know what is proposed, and they need the opportunity to say what they want out of the project.
“The public involvement process has become quite challenging and very important,” Sawhill said. “I think projects always end up better for it.”
Commercial and residential construction Surveying and civil engineering for both commercial and residential urban developments has remained at the core of Lounsbury and Associates' business since the inception of the company. Over the years, the company has designed many subdivisions in Anchorage.
A developer starts by assessing the target market for the development area. Depending on the market, the development might involve anything from entry-level condominiums to high-end, single-family homes.
“Then we'll study the property, figure out how many units it will hold and what the streetscape might be and come up with a preliminary concept,” Sawhill said.
If the developers decide the project is viable, they'll close on the land purchase and commission Lounsbury and Associates to complete the detailed site design, including street and utility layouts. Lounsbury and Associates will seek the necessary approvals and monitor construction.
“It's really fun — it's really creative,” Sawhill said. “You get to lay the streets out ... to create a nice streetscape and a good development.”
In fact, Sawhill enjoys most of the assignments that his company tackles, whether they're gravel roads on the North Slope or residential neighborhoods in Anchorage.
“One of the things I like about Lounsbury is that we do have a pretty good variety of work, and that keeps it interesting,” he said.
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