3x Faster Inspection with GISSOM–A Proactive Pipeline Maintenance Solution

The Client

The client transports over 100 million gallons of fuel daily from Houston, Texas to the New York Harbor with one of the largest refined products pipelines in the US. As a value-based energy company, it provides cost-advantaged, reliable, and environmentally sensitive solutions to meet customers’ needs and future energy demands. Committed to delivering energy that improves lives and keeps the economy moving, the company focuses on excellence in all its endeavors, continually raising the bar. 

The client employs advanced corrosion prevention methods, such as cathodic protection and pipeline coatings, monitored using above-ground surveys to detect potential corrosion. They required a map-intelligent platform deployed across districts, covering all pipeline assets for proactive maintenance that was more efficient.

Need for enhancing pipeline inspections and maintenance

Energy and oil companies face significant challenges in maintaining the efficiency and reliability of their extensive pipeline networks. Current manual inspection and maintenance processes are labor-intensive and often disjointed, lacking integration with spatial data. This leads to delays in detecting issues such as corrosion, inefficient resource utilization, and reduced visibility into the overall condition of pipeline assets. Furthermore, the absence of real-time monitoring, advanced analytics, and automated workflows complicate decision-making and slows response times to critical situations.

To address these industry-wide challenges, companies need sophisticated, map-intelligent solutions that can automate inspections, optimize resource deployment, deliver actionable insights, and facilitate seamless team collaboration. Such solutions are essential for driving operational excellence, improving maintenance reliability, ensuring regulatory compliance, and minimizing unplanned downtime.

Challenges

The client faced several operational hurdles that impeded efficiency and effectiveness in managing pipeline maintenance and corrosion detection. Key challenges included:

• Labor-intensive inspections and surveys
• Lack of integration with spatial data
• Inefficient planning for field technicians 
• Limited analytical insights
• Underutilized communication tools 
• Lack of real-time monitoring and automation

These challenges necessitated an advanced, data-driven, and automated solution that leveraged geospatial technology to streamline pipeline inspections, boost operational efficiency, and ensure better corrosion prevention mechanisms.

LTM’s solution

LTM’s geospatial intelligent solution for survey operations and maintenance (GISSOM), introducing streamlined workflows and advanced technology features. It was deployed across all the client’s districts and it:

• Seamlessly integrated application ecosystem featuring intelligent automated workflows and spatial habitat capabilities.
• Provided dual-platform accessibility via web and mobile, offering an interactive hybrid interface combining map, list and table layouts.
• Enabled self-service ingestion of spatial datasets, including pipeline layers, assets, and boundary data.
• Enhanced asset network management through category-based and level/zone additions.
• Allowed route creation with asset sequencing, along with preview and editing functionalities for enhanced control.
• Prioritized assignment of routes, surveys, or work orders based on a matrix of responsibility, skill, workload, and availability.
• Provided customizable survey forms and dynamic route creation options tailored for various operational needs.
• Enabled navigation support for field technicians, providing sequenced routes with full network visibility.
• Provided a comprehensive field force mobile app with advanced routing and navigation features.
• Enabled high-resolution visualizations, including images, videos of asset alignments, and geotagged images for precision insights.
• Improved defect identification capabilities, including corrosion, vegetation overgrowth, structural damage, and right-of-way (RoW) encroachments.
• Provided detailed records of maintenance and surveys, coupled with future schedules and automated notifications or alerts.
• Improved routine maintenance scheduling and efficient real-time incident resolution mechanisms.
• Ensured systematic documentation of periodic inspections for streamlined reporting.
• Provided real-time live map dashboard and playback features to monitor progress and field movements effectively.

Implementation phases of GISSOM

Phase 0: GISSOM Set up

LTM’s proprietary GISSOM product was set up on Azure for preventive maintenance (surveys) and asset management.

Phase 1: Deployment and enhancements 

Phase 1 application builds were deployed to districts south eastern district (SED), gulf coast district (GCD), and north east district (NED), covering all pipeline stretch assets. Bulk survey reading data imports were enabled via the GISSOM web application at flexible intervals. Atmospheric facilities were added as a new asset category, with parent-child relationships established between entities like facilities-assets and tanks-test points.

A calendar view streamlined survey scheduling, linking specific survey types (e.g., Rectifier PM, Inspections) to assets with distinct schedules. An automation workflow created tickets for high-priority issues, allowing manager comments and enabling self-assignment. Automated workflows for ticket management (assigning, resolving, escalating, and closing) and survey email notifications were also established.  

Phase 2: Streamlined workflow enhancements with upgrades

We introduced several updates to optimize asset and maintenance management. Users could view and edit logic for static reports across surveys, maintenance, assets, and field engineers. Maintenance types and reasons were customizable by sub-category, and an atmospheric facilities maintenance workflow was implemented. Survey workflows accounted for a grace period on overdue dates, and new survey types were supported on the web application. Geo-tagged images could be captured during maintenance sub-ticket resolutions via mobile, with sub-tickets manageable on both web and mobile platforms.

A chat module facilitated communication between managers, admins, and field technicians, supporting file attachments, replacements, and file history viewing. Public and private report templates were introduced, allowing district-wide access for public reports and private ownership for individual users. Maintenance severity workflows included urgency attributes, ensuring more targeted prioritization.

Phase 3: Comprehensive system upgrades  and new workflows

This phase involved integrating existing geospatial information system (GIS) datasets and migrating historic pipeline compliance system (PCS) data to create a robust data foundation. The ticketing system was upgraded to support the main and sub-tickets for Atmospheric facilities outside of surveys. An ask engine data directory was introduced, enabling users to query, analyze, and access actionable insights from relevant datasets.

Reporting was enhanced with tools to track data progression, improved custom report modules with search functionality, and overlay features to consolidate survey data, uncover trends, and highlight recurring issues

Application (GISSOM) tech stack

Web

Backend technologies: PostGreSQL + PostGIS, PgAdmin+ PgRouting

Front-end technologies: HTML, Java Script, JQuery

Programming Language: Java Script, OpenLayers

Server: Application: IIS

             GIS: GeoServer

Web API: PhP, c# (Scheduler)

IDE: Visual Studio

Mobile – Android 

Backend technologies: SQLite

Front-end technologies: XML

Programming Language: Java, OSMdroid Library

Library: Room persistence: To communicate with SQLite

               Retrofit: To communicate with web services

               Firebase for notification

Web API: PhP

IDE: Visual Studio

Mobile – iOS

Backend technologies: Core Data

Front-end technologies: Storyboard

Programming Language: Swift

Library: ArcGIS Runtime SDK, ArcGIS-Runtime-Toolkit-iOS

               AppCenter/Distribute, Firebase

Web API: PhP

IDE: Xcode

Benefits

• A 20% increase in field force utilization with increased manhours.
• 3x faster inspections with route optimization reducing downtime. This also enabled faster issue detection and resolution.
• Both map-driven and form-centric applications, empowered teams to visualize assets spatially and access data seamlessly for enhanced decision-making.
• Historical maintenance with a centralized database for 16000+ assets for better decision-making.
• Features like automated notifications, an Ask Engine for insights, and robust reporting enhanced operations and ensured compliance.

Conclusion

In conclusion, LTM’s GISSOM solution empowered the client by enabling proactive asset and maintenance management, resulting in significant enhancements across multiple areas. By automating and streamlining various operations and workflows, the solution tripled inspection speed and boosted productivity. It provided a powerful, flexible, and user-friendly system that improved asset management, maintenance scheduling, and field operations, ensuring seamless management and enhanced productivity. For energy companies aiming to stay ahead, embracing innovative geospatial technology to optimize operations is the next crucial step in their digital transformation journey.

Looking to digitally transform your operations and maintenance with map intelligence?
Reach out to us at eugene.comms@ltm.com.