Leveraging GIS Beyond Mapping
Critical Valve Inspection. The isolation valves described above are in effect, “critical
valves.” We needed a way to ensure their operability through periodic inspection and
maintenance. We developed an application that scheduled inspections, and tracked
inspection data as well as the status of any remedial work.
Operations Reporting. We created several specialized reports that enabled our Operations
personnel to query our FMS in different ways. For example, service replacement budgets
could be developed based on the number of services of a particular vintage within a
particular area; main pipe surveys could be conducted based on pipe footage; and DOT
reports could be developed; among others.
Market Enhancement. During the mid-1970’s, a gas moratorium created a situation where
thousands of homes and businesses were built in our service area using heat-pumps. During
the 1980’s we built our gas mains beyond these areas to serve continuing growth. But by the
1990’s the heat-pumps began wearing out. We were able to use FMS to identify potential
customers along our existing gas mains, and develop an active marketing enhancement
program.
The Next Generation of GIS
By 1996, we had a substantial user base and support was becoming a major task. We began
taking a good hard look at what we could continue to do with the existing FMS, versus the
third generation GIS’ coming out on the market at that time. We also had a weary eye
toward Y2K. Our studies show that we would not be able to leverage some of the new
technologies becoming available at that time, and that we would be severely impacted by
millennium date changes. It simply would not be prudent to continue investment in what was
a home-grown, outdated technology.
We embarked on the search for a new GIS with the following criteria in mind:
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Easy conversion of our existing GIS data
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Easy conversion of our existing spatial solutions
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Scalability
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Standard data interfaces
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Support
We decided on the Smallworld GIS platform, we began data and application conversion in
mid-1996. By late 1997, we began phasing out FMS, and producing maps and reports within
the new GIS environment.
We also made a number of enhancements to the applications described above, which were
not possible in our second generation GIS. For example, in support of our Safety Sector
application we were able to trace-out the piping network downstream of the regulator and
display the maximum operating pressures (MOP’s) within a Safety Sector. Through a link to
our CIS Safety Sector analysis is now able to identify specific customers who would be
affected by valve closures, enabling safer and expedient outage management. Our Market
Enhancement application is now able to identify the true proximity to main pipes, resulting in
a more accurate solicitation of potential customers.
Recent Asset Management Focus
Washington Gas has more than 3 million feet of Cast Iron, 1.3 million feet of Bare Steel, 25
million feet of cathodically protected steel, and 24 million of plastic pipe within its
distribution system. We have traditionally spent $45-50 million per year in O&M and
Capital programs to maintain or replace this pipe. In the late 1990’s, organizational changes,
retirements of key personnel responsible for defining those programs, and Y2K issues caused
our System Replacement group to re-evaluate its asset management approach and to
investigate externally available pipe asset management systems that could support its new
approach. Our asset management business case identified significant savings associated with
program budget optimization, as well as reductions in the engineering effort needed to
analyze our more than 10,000 miles of distribution pipe.
Here we need to digress a moment to answer the question, “Just what is asset management?”
We found that to different types of solution providers, it means different things. To a
financial systems provider, it’s what keeps track of the pipe in the ground, and provides asset
valuation and depreciation information for regulatory and financial reporting. To a work
management solution provider, asset management is the ability to manage individual
maintenance programs and replacement projects and ensure you are executing them properly.
But none of these systems address a more strategic view of what are the most cost effective
programs, what is the optimal mix of capital and O&M dollars, and how do we better manage
the inherent risk of transporting natural gas to our customers.
Vantage Management Solutions, Inc. a consulting and product solutions firm out of
Newtown, PA had an approach that matched our philosophy as well as a pipe asset
management solution called Optimain. However, this product had never been integrated
within the GIS environment. Washington Gas embarked on a joint project with IT, System
Replacement, and Vantage to develop our Strategic Asset Management approach, and to
assist Vantage in integrating Optimain with our GIS. The project consisted of a number of
business process activities and the following GIS related elements:
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Pipe Maintenance Tracking
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Pending Work Order Management
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Optimain Integration
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Jurisdictional Paving Management
