ABSTRACT
Pipeline routing is required for successful regulatory approval and construction of a transmission or distribution pipeline. As part of the routing process, engineers and geoscientists must consider the geohazards present along proposed pipeline route. Limited guidelines exist for operators to build high pressure transmission lines across varying geophysical environments. Current practice involves discritising a continuum model into soil-spring pairs to model the soil-structure interaction. The model was developed in the 1980’s assuming a clean sand on flat ground, with no consideration to the effect of natural soil properties such as fines content. A series of uplift resistance tests were conducted on a drum centrifuge to measure the non-dimensional load-displacement response for varies configurations of a buried pipe on a sloping ground. The results do not match the proposed guideline for soil-structure interaction used by regulators and industry.
