PROJECT
BakkenLink Pipeline Project
Challenge
The BakkenLink is a proposed pipeline located in
northwestern North Dakota which begins in the Bakken
Shale and extends into the southern US. Designed to
carry crude oil from the Bakken production wells, it is
intended to deliver a large volume of US crude oil to
the domestic market. GES is a part of a larger integrated
team of professional firms tasked with the design and
construction of this privately-capitalized pipeline.
Solution
GES co-consulted with an engineering firm from
Utah to work on the geotechnical and subsurface
evaluation portion of this project. Hundreds of miles
of this pipeline will be installed using conventional
construction methods of “open cut” and backfill.
However, there are several large areas in which
the terrain is too steep and unstable and riddled
with landslide debris to install the pipeline in the
near-surface soils with conventional excavation
and construction equipment. In the areas where
unsuitable soil conditions exist, along with large water
bodies such as a three-mile transect beneath Lake
Sakakawea, the Little Missouri River, and the Badlands
of the Theodore Roosevelt Grasslands National Park,
GES is conducting deep geotechnical borings to
assess the shallow soils as well as the deeper rock
strata. The investigation encompasses nearly 30
boreholes ranging in depth from 100 feet to 680 feet
below ground surface (bgs).
Split-spoon samples and undisturbed samples (Shelby
tubes) were collected along with hundreds of feet of
rock core. All samples were logged, measured, and
shipped for analysis to a geotechnical/rock mechanics
laboratory in Minneapolis.
Once the testing is completed and presented in a
geotechnical report, this subsurface information
will be used by the horizontal boring contractor to
guide their horizontal directional drill bit through the
subsurface for several miles before returning to the
surface. Data collected by GES will provide information
to successfully complete this horizontal boring several
PD 389
miles in length through alternating units of hard
and soft sediments by steering the drill bit to avoid
encountering problematic rock conditions.
Benefits
GES played a crucial role in the success of this
complex project, providing essential geotechnical
and subsurface support. The GES field geological
team managed four drilling rigs over a period of two
months in very difficult terrain, with temperatures
reaching up to 110 degrees.
Project Overview
site type
proposed pipeline
location
North Dakota
technologies
horizontal directional drilling
deep geotechnical borings
split-spoon sampling
Shelby tubes
rock coring
services
site evaluation in complex setting
geotechnical and subsurface
investigation
shallow soil assessment
deep rock strata assessment
sampling
horizontal drilling support and
oversight
www.gesonline.com