Quality control systems for pipeline welding -a model and quantitative analysis; Part I: quality control system design and operation

This paper relies in part on experience gained in conjunction with the Office of the Federal Inspector's (OFI) monitoring of construction of the Eastern and Western Legs of the Alaska Natural Gas Transportation System (ANGTS). The OFI is an independent federal agency established to monitor ANGTS, a 4800 mile (7700 km), large-diameter, high-pressure gas pipeline designed to transport 2 to 2.4 billion cubic feet per day (56.6 to 67.9 million m/sup 3//day) of North Slope gas to the ''Lower 48'' states. The Eastern Leg was completed by the Northern Plains Natural Gas Company of Omaha, Neb., in the fall of 1982, while the Western Leg was constructed by the Pacific Gas Transmission Company of San Francisco, Calif., in the summer of 1981. The ANGTS monitoring experience was supplemented by reviews of a number of other large-scale pipeline construction projects, which include: the Canadian portion of the ANGTS; the Western Delivery System, related to ANGTS and constructed by Northwest Pipeline; the TransAlaska Pipeline System; and the Trailblazer Pipeline.