Design Rule Purpose
This design rule identifies which construction methods are required at each point along a route and uses this to calculate the installation CAPEX.
How to Configure
This design rule considers two main costs- construction costs and material costs (cost of pipe or cable). The rule is categorised by type of construction (cross country, linear feature crossing or linear feature following) and then by construction method (normal, difficult, horizontal directional drill (HDD) etc.).
Linear feature crossing and following refers to when the centreline is crossing or following any of the features represented by a line in the GIS data. This will likely include roads, rivers and utilities. Therefore, these two types of constructions will be configured with respect to the 'Linear Features' dataset.
Cross country is applied to anything in the 'Geology' dataset and will be employed when the centreline is not crossing or following a linear feature unless, the construction method is HDD.
For each construction method, the cost applied can be configurable by the user.
The construction methods, for each construction type are as explained below.
Cross Country:
Normal
Applied by default and to geology dataset layers that were selected as normal
Difficult
Applied to geology dataset layers that were selected as difficult
HDD
Applied to geology dataset layers that were selected for HDD crossings
While HDD is applied, linear feature crossings do not trigger a different installation context, unlike for the normal and difficult installation methods
Crossing:
HDD
Applied when crossing linear features which were selected as HDD
MicroTunnel
Applied when crossing linear features which were selected as MicroTunnel
AugerBore
Applied when crossing linear features which were selected as AugerBore
OpenCut
Applied when crossing linear features which were selected as OpenCut
Linear Feature Following:
Please see the the Linear Feature Following Documentation for context.
Normal
Applied to linear features which were:
Defined as being followed
Within the defined following distance (10m by default)
Selected for normal construction
Difficult
Applied to linear features which were:
Defined as being followed
Within the defined following distance (10m by default)
Selected for difficult construction
Additionally, the cost of the pipe is also added to the CAPEX estimate.
Precedence of Construction Methods
Quite often there will be conflicts in installation methods. For example, sections of the route will be both following a road AND traversing a constraint which requires HDD to be applied. Optioneer has in-built precedence, please see the flow chart below which describes the order of precedence.
Important Notes
This design is dependant on Models, which are configurable. If they are not configured, default values will be used. Some default values are zero and so will not produce a comparable value, please check models before running.
This design rule cannot be activated alongside the 'Linear Feature Crossing and Following Design Rule'. Most elements of the linear feature design rule is configurable within the 'Calculate Installation CAPEX baseline' design rule as defined in the 'Input & Output Summary' section.
The output for this design rule is CAPEX estimates and length of route that requires different installation types.
Input & Output Summary
Input Parameters
This design rule requires the 'Geology' dataset, the 'Linear Feature' dataset and the 'Elevation' dataset. For the below parameters, these can assigned to a data layer, or a default value can be set.
Name | Default | Unit |
Crossing Angle | 0 | Degrees |
Feature level with respect to ground | 0 | m |
Required clearance/cover | 0 | m |
Crossing width | 0 | m |
Permitted violation percentage | 0 | % |
Crossing cost | 0 |
|
Additionally, all Construction Methods and the Pipe are represented as Models and these are configureable.
Model | Parameter | Default | Unit |
Pipeline | Cost per meter | 0 | £/m |
| Pipe outer diameter | 0.56 | m |
| Pipe internal diameter | 0 | m |
| Pipe roughness | 0.05 | mm |
| Standard dimensional ratio | 17 |
|
| Minimum static head | 2 | m |
Cable | Cost per meter | 100 | £/m |
| Cable Diameter | 0.15 | m |
Cross Country Normal | Base cost | 0 | £ |
| Cost per meter | 0 | £/m |
Cross Country Difficult | Base cost | 0 | £ |
| Cost per meter | 0 | £/m |
Cross Country HDD | Base cost | 0 | £ |
| Cost per meter | 0 | £/m |
Following Normal Construction | Base cost | 0 | £ |
| Cost per meter | 0 | £/m |
Following Difficult Construction | Base cost | 0 | £ |
| Cost per meter | 0 | £/m |
Crossing HDD | Base cost | 0 | £ |
| Cost per meter | 0 | £/m |
Crossing Microtunnel | Base cost | 0 | £ |
| Cost per meter | 0 | £/m |
Crossing Auger Bore | Base cost | 0 | £ |
| Cost per meter | 0 | £/m |
Crossing Open Cut | Base cost | 0 | £ |
| Cost per meter | 0 | £/m |
Additionally, parameters regarding following and crossing of linear feature are configurable. Please see the the Linear Feature Following Documentation for details.
Output parameters
Name | Example value | Unit |
Total length [installation type] | 500 | m |
Total cost [installation type] | 5,000,000 | £
|
Total length installation feature following/crossing normal/difficult | 500 | m |
Total cost of [Asset] | 20,000,000 | £ |
[Asset] Cost | 8,000,000 | £ |
CAPEX [Asset] LE (low-estimate) |
| £ |
CAPEX [Asset] ME (med-estimate) |
| £ |
CAPEX [Asset] HE (high-estimate) |
| £ |
Summary of construction methods applied along the length of a route option can be found on the Vertical Profile Chart (under Composition -> Installation):
