Large Gas Utility Company Builds Foundational Integrity Dataset in 90 Days With Eagleview

High-resolution oblique views and integrated measurement tools give the utility company a single authoritative dataset—enabling faster decisions and ongoing change detection.

Background

Committed to ensuring that its integrity management system contains the most accurate and current information, a large gas utility serving the western United States set an aggressive, 90-day timeline to update its structure files. The effort was critical for the company to achieve its goal of building a state-of-the-art foundational dataset to serve as the backbone of its integrity management system. However, with 1.5 million structures located along 7,000 miles of linear transmission corridor running through a combination of rural and densely populated environments, this was not a simple undertaking.

Challenge

The utility had existing orthogonal aerial imagery of varying quality and resolutions that was helpful and could be used for drawing basic outlines, but it didn’t allow for in-depth analysis of buildings and areas. It was impossible to tell the number of stories associated with a structure, and the images weren’t clear enough to determine land use.

“Our existing imagery allowed us to see that there was a building in a specific spot, but the quality wasn’t high enough that we could determine if it was being used for residential or commercial purposes,” explained the utility company’s Asset Integrity Specialist. “We sometimes could tell if there were multiple stories but couldn’t be certain. In understanding our high consequence areas, certainty is a must.”

Because the images didn’t offer sufficient views, the integrity management team would end up referencing multiple data sources to try to verify information. This practice often proved to be problematic. Relying on data from unconfirmed sources created confusion or led to more questions about a property—resulting in the need for a field visit to inspect the site and confirm data. It quickly became evident that this method would not allow the utility to meet its timeline, and they needed a better solution.

Solution

Understanding the value of authoritative data, aerial intelligence, and the ability to remotely evaluate and inspect locations, the company decided to engage Eagleview—a leading provider of aerial imagery, data analytics, and GIS solutions—to deliver high-resolution imagery and a complete dataset of high-consequence areas along its corridor. Every pixel in an Eagleview image is georeferenced, meaning the image becomes actionable and allows for measurements and data extraction.

In order to stay within the utility’s tight, 90-day timeframe, planes were dispatched to the area to obtain high-resolution, four-inch ground sample distance oblique images of the corridor. Oblique images are taken from a 45-degree angle, and they capture the cardinal directions of every structure.

The utility company’s integrity management team used the Eagleview images and data as a single, complete, authoritative source to eliminate inconsistencies and meet the utility’s regulatory requirements. The team accessed the imagery and suite of measurement tools through the CONNECTExplorer™ platform—a web-based application offering access through any web browser.

“The ability to interact with the images and outlines through the web really made it easy to distribute the data throughout the organization,” noted the Asset Integrity Specialist. “The team was able to complete a thorough analysis of the line from their offices.”

EagleView Quote

The oblique views gave our team a clearer understanding of the structures, their use, and even the number of stories. The tools and data Eagleview helped us put together were a valuable resource to extract measurements and data.

Asset Integrity Specialist, large gas utility company

Impact

A Foundational Dataset, Ready to Roll

With Eagleview images and datasets, the utility company achieved its goal to build an accurate, state-of-the-art foundational dataset for its integrity management program. They also plan to use Eagleview as they build out a plan to monitor HCAs and stay on top of growth and change.

Web-Based Access to Imagery

The team accesses Eagleview’s imagery and their suite of measurement tools through the CONNECTExplorer™ platform, a web-based application offering access through any web browser. This improvement greatly simplifies the image distribution process for team members.

Easy Integration With Current Systems

Eagleview images and data integrate into existing software and workflows via a number of options and extensions. The company’s mobile app allows for data review and notations in addition to providing a visual reference for teams on the rare occasion that they need to be in the field.

More Effective Change Monitoring

Eagleview also assists the utility with ongoing change detection efforts—providing regularly captured high-resolution imagery. Eagleview images are captured yearly—allowing the company to carry out a full change detection and flag areas or structures that indicate a change. Now able to quickly identify what needs further inspection, team members save hours per investigation thanks to Eagleview’s images and data.

Detecting change

“ It’s critical for us to have a solid plan in place to stay on top of the structural and environmental changes that affect our lines. Eagleview makes it significantly easier to build those plans. ”

Detecting change

Asset Integrity Specialist, large gas utility company

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