Pacific Trails Pipeline Project

The Pacific Trails Pipeline Project (PTP) involves the construction of an approximately 478 km gas pipeline from Summit Lake (north of Prince George) to Kitimat, BC. The proposed route crosses lacustrine silts in the interior plateau, rugged terrain of the Coast Mountains, and glaciomarine clay in the Kitimat Valley.

During the feasibility, basic engineering and detailed engineering stages of the project, BGC provided the pipeline designer and the environmental consultant with geohazard and geotechnical support, including 1:20,000 scale surficial geology mapping, helicopter and ground reconnaissance and semi-quantitative assessment of landslide risk. These services helped the client establish a pipeline corridor that minimized exposure to geotechnical and seismic geohazards and problematic ground conditions. BGC also provided subsurface information from geological mapping, drilling, test pits and geophysics to help assess:

• Feasibility and design of proposed HDD river crossings
• Foundations for aerial crossings
• Depth to firm soils under organic deposits for buoyancy control design
• Estimate of % ditch rock and excavation costs
• Identification of potential sources for pipeline bedding and padding

BGC’s geohazard and geotechnical recommendations were used to refine pipeline construction costs and support applications to the BC Environmental Assessment Office (BCEAO) and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEA Agency) for an Environmental Approval Certificate (EAC).