Riser Pipe asset group

[CoronaGis]

Hi everyone,
we are doing some testing on the gas utility network and we have a question regarding the "riser pipe" (MONTANTI in italian) objects which in reality are pipes going up vertically. At the moment in our gas system they are represented as points with the necessary attributes to know the measured length, altitude etc.

We have seen that on the gas solution (ArcGIS Solutions - GAS ) there is a line asset group which is called "Riser Pipe" with this description, "The Riser Pipe asset group in the PipeLine feature class represents the vertical pipe where a pipe system transitions from below ground to above ground. "

Our idea is therefore to transform the point objects we have today into linear objects "Riser Pipe" the problem is however that we do not know quite how to draw them.

• If they are located at the end of a utility branch pipe it is easy enough, we create a point object that connects the branch to the riser and then the riser to the utility

• But what if it is located between two pipes? the idea we had in order not to change the drawn lengths too much was to create a vertex of the sections and rotate it slightly and in between insert the riser connected to the two sections with a node. but in this case what node do we put (the black point as junction or device)? do you have any other ideas on how we could draw the riser in this case? any best practices?

Thank you

[AyanPalit]

@CoronaGis Interesting question - thanks for posting. Is the data 3D? Utility Network features are 3D aware, so you can model the riser pipe vertically as in screenshot below.

Here's a video showing this interesting concept:  3D Networks and Vertical Assets

[RobertKrisher]

I will defer to industry experts about how best to model this from an industry or regulatory perspective. @TomDeWitte 

From a technical perspective, you can model the riser location as a point feature by adding a riser location asset group and asset type to the model (to the gas junction class). If you set the measured length on the point as a network attribute it can be included in your pipe length calculations.

[TomDeWitte · Accepted solution]

The natural gas industry is rapidly moving into the world of 3-dimensions.  Often this is happening without a full realization that 3-D data (such as collected at construction with GNSS receivers) is starting to be incorporated into gas pipe networks. 

Your thoughtful questions about how to begin the transition to 3D and what that means in the 2D world with which we typically display our pipe networks, will serve your organization well.

My recommendation is that you do begin to manage your risers as 3D linear objects, as this is what they actually are in the physical world.  These linear riser objects are typically around 1 meter in length. Therefore, your concept of creating a slight offset to designate the change in elevation between two pipes is a great compromise of 2D display and 3D representation, and it does not alter the pipe length to a degree that would show up in a summary pipe report.

To your last question about what connecting junction or device would you insert to create the connection between the pipe and the riser. My recommendation is that you insert the actual fitting (PipelineJunction) asset which was physically installed to connect the pipe to the riser.  Most likely that will be an elbow, since you are documenting a significant change in direction. Typically 45 to 90 degrees in deflection.

One more suggestion to consider.  To speed up the mapping process of this detailed documentation of change in elevation, look at creating a group template that includes the begining elbow, riser pipe feature, and ending elbow. 

[CoronaGis]

Thank you very much for the answer! It is exactly what we are searching for.