Expansion of Existing Monitoring System on Great Man-Made River Project Using Acoustic Fibre Optic Technology

Acoustic monitoring has played a major role in the management of one of the world's largest civil engineering projects. After experiencing failures on their pipeline between 1999 and 2001, the Great Man-Made River Authority (GMRA) undertook an aggressive condition assessment program. This program led to the development of a comprehensive Pipeline Risk Management System (PRMS), making the Great Man-Made River Project one of the best managed pipelines in the world. The planned expansion of the existing acoustic monitoring system, a key component of the PRMS, will allow for monitoring of over 700km of pipeline. This paper will discuss steps taken to-date, the acoustic monitoring technology and the expansion of this key component to the management strategy for the pipeline.