Instrumentation Around a Warm Oil Pipeline Buried in Permafrost

• Published in: Canadian Geotechnical Journal
• Main Authors: Slusarchuk, W. A., Watson, G. H., Speer, T. L.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1973
• Subjects: Inuvik; Mackenzie Valley; Ice; permafrost
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/t73-021; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/t73-021

A section of an uninsulated pipeline, 90 ft (27.4 m) long and 2 ft (0.61 m) in diameter, was buried in ice-rich permafrost at the Mackenzie Valley Pipe Line Research Limited Inuvik Test Facility. Oil at 160 °F (71 °C) was circulated through the pipe from July 1971 to January 1972 causing a thaw bulb to develop around it.Instrumentation was placed around the pipe to measure temperature, settlement, and pore-water pressure. Temperatures near the ground surface and at depth were measured using thermistors as the sensing element. Settlement was monitored by spiral foot gauges and by taking elevations at the ground surface and on rods welded to the pipe. Pore pressures were measured by gas-operated and Casagrande-type piezometers. Selection, fabrication, and installation of this instrumentation are discussed.