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MAOP Reconfirmation

MAOP reconfirmation that traces each operating pressure to the page behind it, and argues the case both ways where two old records disagree.

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Follow segment 7-114 from 9:11 to the hold at 9:17 ↓

The problem

A mill test says one grade, a purchase order another, and nobody read both

Old gas transmission pipe runs on job files from the years it was laid: mill tests, purchase orders, pipe tallies, test charts and alignment sheets, many of them carbon copies or handwritten. Someone keys the values into a map segment by segment, and an engineer reviews them months later, one document at a time.

That is how a redrawn alignment sheet passes as proof, how a record gets stretched past the stations it names, and how a make-up order for weaker pipe sits unread in the same box as the mill test. When an inspector asks for the case behind one segment, the team rebuilds it from scratch.

Built forRecords engineersIntegrity engineersOperations managersRecords custodiansCompliance auditors

The Problem Today

Old gas pipe runs on paper from the years it was laid, and one disagreeing record can undo the pressure it rests on.

50%: of covered miles must be reconfirmed by the first deadline published
16,896: hours to rebuild 2,816 segments by hand, at 6 hours each our estimate

Read by hand today

Mill tests
Purchases
Tallies
Test charts

Copies pass as proofA later redraw looks like a record, and it is not one
Conflicts found lateNobody reads a purchase order beside a mill test

The Solution

Each page readScanned job files tied to stations, mileposts and segments
Seven records judgedTraceable, verifiable and complete, one record at a time
Both sides arguedBoth sums shown; the agent then argues against its own case
Six methods laid outEach with the segment's own facts; an engineer chooses

Built-in controls

A second engineer opens the cited pages, then signs
Agents never choose a method or touch pressure
Pressures rounded down, never up

What You Get

Engineers judge only the segments that need them, and each pressure stands on a page an inspector can open.

A case for each segmentCited, argued both ways and countersigned
The deadlines in viewMiles reconfirmed, waiting and broken, line by line
Inspection-ready fileOne download with rulings, decisions and the trail

Six minutes on one segment

MAOP reconfirmation on a grandfathered segment, from a broken tree to a hold

Segment 7-114 is 4.6 miles of 20-inch pipe laid in 1962, in a high consequence area, running at 870 psig on a record card. The job file was read again this morning, and at 9:11 two of its records stopped agreeing.

demoSample data on every screen: the line, the segment, the job file, the people and each pressure.

019:12
870 psig at the top, and the tree breaks at grade
Pipeline records engineer
The segment's pressure sits at the root, with design, test and fittings under it, then seven records each marked traceable, verifiable and complete, then the pages. Grade reads X52 or X46 and turns red. The lower reading is 775 psig. A hold request has already gone to the operations manager, because the lower sum falls under the pressure on record.
029:12
A make-up order bought 16,370 feet of X46 for this stretch
Pipeline records engineer
The mill test lists Grade X52 for one order. A purchase order from the same summer buys X46 from a second mill for stations that land on MP 41.9 to 45.0: 3.1 miles, 409 joints. The tally there has no heat numbers, and no mill test for that order is in the file. The sum underneath works both grades, rounded down.
039:13
The agent cannot prove 870 psig, and says nobody can show which pipe is there
Pipeline records engineer
The case for 870 cites the signed mill test, a design pressure of 876 and a water test of 1,090 psig divided by 1.25. The case against cites the order, the missing heat numbers and an alignment sheet copied years later. At X46, 870 would be 67.3% of yield in a location built for 60%. It does not say the pipe is X46.
049:13
Pressure reduction falls 87 psi short of what firm deliveries need
Pipeline records engineer
Six methods, each worked with this segment's own facts and a sample cost. A test needs 1,088 psig for 8 hours, valve to valve over 8.7 miles. Reduction would cap it at 673 psig against the 760 firm deliveries need. The impact radius of 407 ft rules out the small-radius route. The planner lays them out and chooses none.
059:14
She chooses the pressure test, and says the record is still open
Pipeline records engineer
Choosing stays locked until she has opened the mill test, the purchase order and the tally. Her reason says the test settles the pressure and field checks must still settle the record. The test tag itself reads 870 only if field checks show X52, open if X46. The senior integrity engineer countersigns before anything is planned.
069:15
Three cited pages, opened by him, before Countersign means anything
Senior integrity engineer
Her openings count for her alone. He opens the mill test, the order and the tally himself, and the panel ticks each one: 3 of 3 cited pages opened by you. Send back stays beside Countersign, and a hold request sits below for the operations manager, which he can also raise himself.
079:15
Method chosen, and the case stays open until four field checks are signed
Senior integrity engineer
The case now names who decided and who countersigned. The test runs valve to valve, so six neighbors are covered too and the section is costed once. Still open: the grade is unproven until the field checks come back. The tree still shows the lower reading, because nothing has proved which pipe is in the ground.
089:16
Four bell holes inside the 3.1 miles, because the valve sites sit outside it
Senior integrity engineer
Cut-outs at the test manifolds would sample the wrong pipe. So the field list gains four bell holes, one a mile rounded up, at MP 42.1, 42.9, 43.8 and 44.6, each for hardness and chemistry. At each spot the readings follow the rule's pattern: 5 places in 2 quadrants, 10 readings each.
099:17
Held at 775 psig, with 15 psi to spare for firm deliveries
Pipeline operations manager
He opens the purchase order and the mill test, then holds the segment at 775. A hold is the safer way, so one person with the authority sets it, and the control center gets the notice. Agents never touch pressure. Raising it back to 870 waits for signed field results and a finished test.
10After the hold
87.2 of 520.0 miles reconfirmed, and 310.5 more wait on counsel
Pipeline operations manager
Only a finished, countersigned method reconfirms a mile. Records prove 310.5 more miles on the operator's own reading, which is an argument rather than the rule's words, so they stay in the count until regulatory counsel signs it. The method plan now holds 111.0 miles, and 127.6 miles of broken trees still have no method.

At X46 the same wall gives 775 psig, under the 870 on the record card

The sums under segment 7-114, as the screens show them. Every pressure is rounded down.

Reading	Sum	Pressure
Design at X52, from the mill test	2 × 52,000 × 0.281 ÷ 20 × 0.60	876 psig
Design at X46, from the purchase order	2 × 46,000 × 0.281 ÷ 20 × 0.60	775 psig
The original water test	1,090 psig ÷ 1.25	872 psig
On record, set by the operating log	Highest pressure in the five years before the cutoff	870 psig
Pressure test needed	870 × 1.25, for at least 8 hours	1,088 psig

demoSample data, from the working solution. Firm deliveries need 760 psig here, a sample hydraulic value.

Behind the tree

TVC records pipeline teams keep: job files, lab sheets and the trail

The pages, the vault and the queue that the custodian, the field and the auditor work in.

Green pressure tree for a neighboring segment where all seven records hold, marked as not yet signed by counsel — **A segment the records prove**The neighbor upstream holds on all seven records. It is marked not yet signed by counsel, so its miles stay in the count until counsel signs the reading.

List of twelve records behind the segment's tree with the 1970 record card open, showing the basis of the pressure on record — **Pages behind 7-114**12 records used by this tree, from the record card to the operating log. The originals stay with the records custodian; this view is read only.

Job files with scanned page counts and held pages for the records custodian to read by hand, each below the reading line — **Job files**98 job files and 486,214 scanned pages. 2,117 pages are held for the custodian: water damage, faded carbon copies and handwriting below the reading line.

Field lab sheet for a pipe cut-out: wall 0.309 to 0.316 in, yield 54,900 psi, tensile 74,300 psi, readings in two quadrants — **A lab sheet from a cut-out**A tensile and wall result for another segment, with the readings pattern stated. Entering it into the tree is a separate step, taken by a person.

Queue of hold requests from broken pressure trees, each with the lower pressure, the pressure on record and days late — **Hold requests**Every broken tree whose lower sum falls under the pressure on record raises a hold request with its own clock, oldest first.

MAOP validation audit trail for one segment: agents' findings, the engineer's choice, the countersignature and the hold — **Audit trail for 7-114**Six minutes in order: the disagreement found, the hold request, the case argued, the choice, the countersignature, the field checks and the hold.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

Who decides a segment, who signs, and who may hold the line

The person who decides never checks. A disagreement goes to someone who did not argue it.

Pipeline records engineer

Sees: The tree, both records and the case argued both ways
Signs: Agrees the records hold, or chooses a method

Senior integrity engineer

Sees: Each cited page, opened by him since that decision
Signs: Countersigns or sends back, and prepares the method plan

Pipeline operations manager

Sees: Both disagreeing pages and the delivery pressure
Signs: Holds a segment, and signs the method plan on a random sample

VP pipeline integrity

Sees: Both positions when two engineers disagree
Signs: Rules either way, or keeps the case open

Regulatory counsel

Sees: The operator's reading on segments proven by records
Signs: Signs or declines that reading

Records custodian

Sees: Held pages and requests for the original box
Signs: Reads held pages by hand

The agents

Seven agents build the pressure tree, and the method is left to an engineer

Each works one step of the tree and hands it on.

Job file reader

Reads scanned pages, carbon copies and handwriting.

Never guesses a character
Holds a page below the reading line

Segment matcher

Ties pages to segments from stations and mileposts.

Never stretches a record past its stations

Record judge

Rules traceable, verifiable and complete on seven records.

A copy never verifies its source
An affidavit only complements

Disagreement finder

Finds records that disagree about the same pipe.

Never picks a winner

Pressure calculator

Works the design and test sums for each reading.

Rounds down, never up

Case arguer

Writes the case, then argues against it.

Never says a segment is safe

Method planner

Lays out the six methods with the segment's facts.

Never chooses

What records and integrity engineers ask about MAOP reconfirmation

What is MAOP reconfirmation?

MAOP reconfirmation is the work of proving, or re-establishing, the maximum allowable operating pressure of gas transmission pipe whose records fall short or whose pressure was set under the old grandfather clause. Here agents tie each job file page to a segment and draw the tree behind the pressure, and engineers decide each case.

What do traceable, verifiable and complete records mean on a segment?

Traceable means a record is linked to original information about this pipe. Verifiable means a separate record confirms it. Complete means it is finalized by a signature, date or mark. Each of the seven records under a pressure gets all three marks, and a later copy can never verify the record it was copied from.

How does a pipeline records gap analysis show up?

As a tree. The pressure sits at the top, the seven things it rests on underneath, and the pages under those. A record with a gap turns its branch red, and a disagreement between two records shows both pages side by side with the sum worked each way.

Do the agents choose the reconfirmation method?

They do not. The planner lays out the six methods with the segment's own facts and sample costs. A records engineer chooses, a senior integrity engineer countersigns after opening the cited pages, and the operations manager signs the method plan.

What happens to the pressure while a case is open?

Where the lower sum falls under the pressure on record, a hold request goes straight to the operations manager. He may hold the segment on his own, because it is the safer way. Raising it again waits for signed field results and the finished method.

Do miles proven by records count toward the deadline?

Only once regulatory counsel signs the operator's reading. That reading is an argument, stated on the screen in plain words, and until it is signed the proven miles stay in the count.

What does an inspector get?

One file per segment with the tree, each ruling and its pages, the case for and against, who decided, who countersigned and the audit trail. A case that is not countersigned says draft on its first line.

Pipelines, Midstream & LNG

Bring one job file
from your oldest line.

We’ll draw the pressure tree for its segments from your own scanned pages.

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MAOP Reconfirmation

A mill test says one grade, a purchase order another, and nobody read both

The Problem Today

The Solution

What You Get

MAOP reconfirmation on a grandfathered segment, from a broken tree to a hold

870 psig at the top, and the tree breaks at grade

A make-up order bought 16,370 feet of X46 for this stretch

The agent cannot prove 870 psig, and says nobody can show which pipe is there

Pressure reduction falls 87 psi short of what firm deliveries need

She chooses the pressure test, and says the record is still open

Three cited pages, opened by him, before Countersign means anything

Method chosen, and the case stays open until four field checks are signed

Four bell holes inside the 3.1 miles, because the valve sites sit outside it

Held at 775 psig, with 15 psi to spare for firm deliveries

87.2 of 520.0 miles reconfirmed, and 310.5 more wait on counsel