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Sabine Neches Levee Crossing Direct Pipe ® Engineering and Permitting

Conference Paper · June 2020

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 North American Society for Trenchless Technology (NASTT)
NASTT’s 2016 No-Dig Show

Dallas, Texas
March 20-24, 2016

TA-T5-04

Sabine Neches Levee Crossing Direct Pipe®

Engineering and Permitting

Jonathan L. Robison, PE, GeoEngineers, Inc., Springfield, Missouri

Joe M. Wilson, PE, Arceneaux Wilson & Cole LLC, Port Arthur, Texas

1. ABSTRACT

The Sabine Neches waterway and hurricane flood protection levee pipeline crossing in Port Arthur, Texas was
completed in April 2015 using the Direct Pipe® (DP) trenchless construction method. With an as-built horizontal
length of approximately 3,457 feet, the 48-inch-diameter DP became the largest DP crossing completed at that time
in North America. It also is the first DP crossing permitted by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to cross a
USACE-regulated levee. This paper is a case study of the challenging engineering and processes required for
permitting as well as the trenchless engineering innovations that led to the successful completion of this landmark
project.

DP is a relatively new trenchless technology wherein a microtunnel boring machine and jacking pipe is installed in a
curved manner with a DP Pipe Thruster machine providing the motive force. Relatively low (compared to horizontal
directional drill [HDD] method) pressures are developed during DP construction. In the case of the Sabine Neches
crossing, HDD was initially considered but had to be discounted due to relatively low soil formation limit pressures,
which indicated a higher than acceptable risk of hydraulic fracture beneath the hurricane protection levee. DP was
selected for consideration and, working with the guidance of the USACE, the authors developed a design method
(presented at NASTT No-Dig 2015) for evaluating the risk of hydraulic fracture for a DP installation. Other
significant challenges from a design and permitting perspective included the overall required length and geometry of
the DP (vertical, horizontal, and combined curves were required to avoid existing infrastructure), the launch and
pipe fabrication areas construction workspace was very limited, and numerous agency reviews had to be coordinated
and consolidated to allow construction to occur.

2. PROJECT BACKGROUND AND DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

The location of the City of Port Arthur, Texas, Sabine Neches waterway and hurricane flood protection levee Direct
Pipe (Sabine Neches DP) crossing is shown on the next page in Figure 1. At the time of construction, the Sabine
Neches DP was the longest completed in North America (3,457 feet of 48-inch-diameter steel pipe), and it was the
first use of DP to cross a United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)-regulated levee.

Paper TA-T5-04 - 1
Figure 1. Project location of Sabine Neches DP Crossing in Port Arthur, Texas.

The Sabine Neches pipeline crossing was originally conceived as a horizontal directional drill (HDD) crossing; the
ultimate goal was to install a 30-inch-diameter HDPE waterline to carry water from the City of Port Arthur to an
industrial facility 12 miles away located in Louisiana.

As shown below in Figures 2 and 3, the trenchless installation had a number of challenges to overcome, including
crossing beneath or near:

• City of Port Arthur streets and residential neighborhood;

• Sabine Neches hurricane protection levee and Foley Pump Station;
• An active railroad yard;
• Sabine Neches waterway; and the
• TB Ellison Parkway.

Additionally, the crossing parallels the Texas State Highway 8 Bridge crossing of the Sabine Neches waterway; and
Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT) offset requirements from the bridge pier protection caissons meant
the pipeline would have to be installed with some horizontal curvature.

Paper TA-T5-04 - 2
Figure 2. Sabine Neches DP crossing entry side.

Figure 3. Sabine Neches crossing exit side.

After completion of geotechnical exploration, a detailed feasibility and hydraulic fracture risk review was performed
for the proposed HDD that determined the factor of safety against hydraulic fracture of the soils underlying the
hurricane protection levee was less than the 2.0 required by the USACE. This factor of safety is essentially the
formation limiting pressure divided by the anticipated annular pressures within the bore or tunnel zone produced
during construction. [The method used on this project, for HDD and, as later described, DP to evaluate the potential
for hydraulic fracture is derived from cavity expansion theory. The procedures used to evaluate the potential for
slurry loss through hydraulic fracturing are based primarily on research completed by Delft Geotechnics, as
discussed in Appendix B of the USACE Report CPAR-GL-98 (Staheli, et al., 1998).]

Paper TA-T5-04 - 3
The project team discarded the HDD option because it was incapable of obtaining a permit from the USACE and
moved forward to consider and ultimately discount (due to space, landowner, and permitting constraints) both re-
routing the pipeline alignment and going over the levee to start the HDD from the levee batture. Having eliminated
these options, the project designers began to consider DP technology as a potentially lower-pressure, trenchless
technology.

3. DIRECT PIPE FEASIBILITY AND DESIGN

Prior to the Sabine Neches crossing project, the design team had previous experience with:

• DP design and construction estimating jacking loads and installation axial, bending, hoop and combined
stresses along with buckling risk and operating stresses (Robison, et al, 2013);
• The estimation of jacking loads for DP projects (Robison and Hotz, 2014); and
• Had worked on the design and construction of several successful DP projects.

None of these prior projects, however, were specifically designed with a required limitation on downhole annular
pressure during construction. Working with DP manufacturer Herrenknecht, AG (Herrenknecht), the design team
developed a method for estimating the downhole pressures prior to construction to facilitate USACE permitting, and
then monitoring the annular pressures during DP construction to document conformance to permit requirements
(Robison and Sparks, 2015). The design team, along with a representative of Herrenknecht, presented information
on DP construction and engineering analyses to the Galveston, Texas USACE staff in October 2013. The USACE
responded favorably to considering the DP method for permitting (pending receipt of detailed engineering analyses),
and so the design team began work on detailed design.

Due to the length of the proposed crossing and other factors, the design team elected to design the crossing with a
48-inch-diameter DP machine, installing 48-inch steel casing that would subsequently house the 30-inch HDPE
water line. Engineering design began with jacking force estimation using methods outlined in the papers above. This
resulted in an estimated jacking force of 600 US (or short) tons. The jacking force estimate was then factored (to
1,000 tons, Figure 4) and used to inform pipe thruster selection and develop steel casing stress analyses. Please note
that the jacking force estimate shown below is a “snapshot” in time of the theoretical load distribution along the
length of the pipe just prior to exit, the theoretical maximum loading condition.

Paper TA-T5-04 - 4
 Figure 4. Sabine Neches DP estimated axial load.

Using the factored jacking force estimate as shown above in Figure 4, the designers calculated installation pipe
stresses including: axial, bending, hoop, and combined stresses (Figure 5) and pipe capacity and installation stress
factors of safety (Figure 6). Note, this design approach provided a casing pipe with a factor of safety of roughly 1.7
(allowable jacking force divided by anticipated jacking force). Further, the capacity of the largest thruster, the
Herrenknecht HK750PT, is 7500 kN or roughly 840 US tons; so, more than one thruster would be required working
in tandem if the jacking forces approached the maximum design value.

Paper TA-T5-04 - 5
Figure 5. Sabine Neches DP estimated installation stresses.

Figure 6. Sabine Neches DP installation stresses pipe capacity analysis.

Paper TA-T5-04 - 6
After completing these engineering tasks focused on installation stresses and the design requirements for the steel
pipe casing, the team concluded that DP was possible for this length. The designers then proceeded to evaluate the
installation pressures, formation limit and downhole annular pressures (Figure 7), and factor of safety against
hydraulic fracture for a potential DP installation (Figure 8).

Figure 7. Sabine Neches DP annular pressure and formation limit pressure.

Paper TA-T5-04 - 7
 Figure 8. Factor of safety against hydraulic fracture for potential DP installation.

The team presented the engineering calculations to the USACE as part of the permitting package for the project, and
they were subsequently approved. Then, the project team moved into the contractor selection and construction
phases.

4. VALIDATION OF DESIGN METHOD – DIRECT PIPE CONSTRUCTION

The team of Strike Construction and Laney Directional Drilling Company (Laney) was selected to complete the DP.
The entry pit was completed and the DP machine was launched on March 24, 2015 (Figure 9).

Figure 9. Sabine Neches DP entry pit.

Paper TA-T5-04 - 8
The engineering team provided full-time construction observation services during the DP construction and documented
conformance with the USACE permit conditions. The jacking forces recorded during construction—maximum of
approximately 550 US tons—were very comparable to the engineers’ estimate of 600 US tons, Figure 10.

Figure 10. Sabine Neches DP thruster force.

Similarly, the annular pressures recorded during construction were very close to the engineers’ estimate and
substantially in compliance with the USACE permit conditions (Figure 11).

Paper TA-T5-04 - 9
 Figure 11. Sabine Neches DP field-measured and allowable annular drilling fluid pressures.

On April 22, 2015, after 32 days of double-shift operations, the MTBM surfaced at the exit substantially completing
the DP installation portion of the project (see Figure 12).

Figure 12. The MTBM surfaces at the exit.

Paper TA-T5-04 - 10
 5. CONCLUSIONS

The Sabine Neches DP crossing was successful and demonstrated the advantages of the DP method in a new and
unique application, lowering hydraulic fracture risk. The calculations and analyses developed by the authors to
demonstrate the applicability of the DP method were validated by the conditions measured during construction. The
authors believe the DP method holds a great deal of promise for applications where levee safety or other reasons
preclude the use of HDD and a lower-pressure trenchless installation alternative is required.

6. REFERENCES

API Recommended Practice 2A-WSD. (21st Ed., December 2000, with errata and supplements December 2002,
September 2005, and October 2007). Recommended Practice for Planning, Designing and Constructing Fixed
Offshore Platforms-Working Stress Design

Robison, J., Hotz, R., Chen, C. (2013). “Emerging Technologies – A Suggested Design Method for Jacked, Curved
Steel Pipe” ASCE Pipelines Conference Proceedings pp. 864

Robison, J., Hotz, R. (2014). “Direct Pipe – Estimated and Actual Installation Load Analyses for 20 Crossings”
North American Society for Trenchless Technology 2014 No-Dig Show Paper TM2-T5-04

Robison, J., Sparks, A. (2015). “Direct Pipe® Levee Crossing Design – Mitigating Hydraulic Fracture Risk” North
American Society for Trenchless Technology 2015 No-Dig Show Paper WM-T4-04

Staheli, et al., 1998, “Installation of Pipelines Beneath Levees Using Horizontal Directional Drilling,” U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers, Waterways Experiment Station, CPAR-98-1

Watson, D. (1995). “Installation of Pipelines by Horizontal Directional Drilling an Engineering Design Guide”
Pipeline Research Council International, Inc.

United States Army Corps of Engineers, USACE report, CELMN-ED-F, titled “Guidelines for Permit Review,
Installing Pipelines by Near-surface Directional Drilling Under Levees”, updated July, 2012

Paper TA-T5-04 - 11

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