pipeline per trip. Delivery of two miles of pipe per day would represent 

 a normal rate of shipment. 



3.6.2 Site Requirements 



Major site requirements for a pipe-coating yard include a large tract 

 of level land (75 to 200 acres) with navigational access for pipe and 

 materials transport, and rail and highway access for materials supply. 

 Lesser requirements include proximity to industrial support services, a 

 pipe supply source, an appropriate labor pool, and both water and 

 electrical power supply. Depending on the demand expected, one to three 

 pipe-coating yards may be planned in response to development of a single 

 oil and gas lease area. 



Pipe-coating yards have traditionally been located at waterfront 

 sites to facilitate shipment of raw materials into the yard by vessel 

 and to gain direct access to offshore pipe-laying operations. However, 

 the coating and storage operations are not waterfront dependent and could 

 be accomplished inland. Whether this would be practicable depends upon 

 circumstances. Dock frontage is necessary for loading the processed 

 40-foot lengths of pipe onto barges and for receiving raw materials. 

 However, the frontage could be provided at a separate shipping terminal 

 connected by railway or road to the inland pipe-coating facility. This 

 strategy, in instances where it is practicable, has several benefits: a 

 gain in elevation of the yard (in case of flooding); reduced need for 

 scarce, expensive waterfront land; and lessened ecological disruption 

 along the shoreline. 



A typical pipe-coating yard requires 750 feet or more of dock 

 frontage to handle the loading of two supply barges simultaneously [7]. 

 The waterfront terminal may also receive large quantities of raw materials 

 such as sand, cement, and iron ore aggregate for the coating yard 

 operations (Tables 11 and 12). Since, in many circumstances, raw 

 materials and supplies may be shipped more economically overland, access 

 to suitable roads and a railroad is an important siting criterion. 



The land area required for a pipe-coating yard is related to the 

 expected demand for pipelines for the OCS field served by the yard. Up 

 to 95 percent of the total developed acreage of a yard is storage space 

 for coated and uncoated pipe and raw materials. About 300 miles of 

 different sized sections of pipe can be stored at a single 100 acre 

 site [7]. Additional area is normally required for a vegetated buffer 

 zone to minimize the effects of noise, dust, and stormwater runoff. 

 Yard sites require soils of moderate load bearing strength to support the 

 weight. of concrete-coated pipe and heavy equipment. A land slope of 

 less than 3 percent is normally required. 



Moderate quantities of fresh water are needed for the 150 to 200 

 employees and for such processes as cooling the pipes, mixing the 



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