Sydney Hewitt

11/17/16

Salt Lake CC
Math 1210
Pipeline Project
Dear CEO,

I am writing in regards to the pipeline drilling project near Vernal, Utah. I

have calculated the most cost effective route from the well to the refinery. The
route that would be most cost effective is to go 19.4967 miles southeast through
private ground and 20.859 miles east through BLM ground, leaving the well at an
angle of 55.15. The angle would be between the route where the pipe leaves the
well and the mountain route. Taking this route would cost under $26,500,000,
saving up to $4.22 million. In this report, I have included the proof for why this is
the optimal route. I have also included extra cost scenarios for comparison. My
work for this report is on the attached lined paper.
BLM Ground
(mountain path)

16 miles

BLM Ground

8 mile

Private Ground

40 miles - BLM Ground

Costs

$480,000 per mile on BLM ground

$480,000 per mile plus a one-time cost of $4,500,000, $600,000 for an

environmental study, and $100,000 per month for 8 months on BLM ground
through the mountain

$480,000 per mile plus another $360,000 per mile on private ground

A
i.

I began my calculations with how much it would cost the company to run
the pipe west 8 miles, then south 16 miles, then east 40 miles to the
refinery on BLM ground. I calculated a total distance by adding the

Sydney Hewitt
11/17/16

distances up and multiplied the total by $480,000. The concluded cost for
this route was $30,720,000.
ii.

The next thing I calculated was the cost of going 32 miles east through
mountain BLM ground and 16 miles south to the refinery. I added up the
total distance, multiplied it by $480,000, and then added another
$5,900,000 for the extra costs. I concluded it would cost $28,940,000 to
take this route.

i.

I then began to focus on the costs of running the pipe through private
ground. First, I calculated the cost of running the pipe from the well
straight to the refinery through private ground. Since this route created a
triangle, I used the Pythagorean Theorem to find the distance from the
well to the refinery. I found that the distance was about 35.7771 miles. I
multiplied this distance by $840,000, which is $480,000 and $360,000
added together. The answer I got for this scenario was $30,052,753.62.

ii.

The last scenario I tried was running the pipe 16 miles straight south from
the well through private ground and then 32 miles east through BLM land
to the refinery. I multiplied the 16 miles by $840,000, multiplied the 32
miles by $480,000, and added the results together. The cost of this route
would be $28,800,000.

BLM Ground
(mountain path)

16 miles

BLM Ground

8 mile

Private Ground

40 miles - BLM Ground

I used my knowledge gained from the previous scenarios to solve for the
optimal path of the pipe for a minimum cost. I indicated the red line in the image
above as x. I indicated the green line in the image above as y. With these two

variables, I concluded that the cost function for this case would be
C(x)=840,000x+480,000y.

Sydney Hewitt
11/17/16

The parameter I used to help me solve this problem was the Pythagorean
Theorem. However, I had to change it a bit. Instead of the equation reading
x=y+16 (16 being the length of the triangles vertical leg, which is the purple
line), I had to rewrite the theorem as x=(32-y)+16. This is because the triangle I
was using did not include y as a length of the missing leg. The total distance from
the well through the mountains to where the pipe would run south to the refinery is
32 miles. After adding the purple line and stating that the distance of the green line
was y, I could conclude that the missing leg length of the triangle was 32-y.
Once I had my cost function and parameter, I took the derivative of both
separately and solved for x. Since they were both equal to x, I could set both
derived equations equal to each other. There were still two unknown variables, but I
was able to solve for one of them. I chose to solve for y first. Once I had solved for
y, I substituted in my new y equation to the parameter (x=(32-y)+16). By
substituting the new y equation into the parameter, I was able to conclude that the
distance x was approximately 19.4967 miles. This distance represents the length of
the pipe running on the private ground.
With the distance of x solved for, I substituted the answer of x back into the
parameter to solve for y. The distance of y was 20.859 miles. This distance
represented the length of the pipe running on the BLM ground.
These lengths together are the lengths required for the most cost effective
route of the pipe.
I finally used the x length to find the angle between the path of the pipe
running through private land and the mountain path. To do this, I used the sine
function. The sine function is defined at opposite over hypotenuse. In this case, the
sine function would be 16/19.4967. The angle is equivalent to arcsine of
16/19.4967. The angle was equal to 55.15.

Graph of C(x)

Sydney Hewitt
11/17/16

Reflection
Though I think I am mostly fairly good at math, Calculus has challenged me
this past semester. I have learned so many things and have realized its importance
to the real world. I aspire to be a veterinarian. Calculus is important to
veterinarians in many ways. If I ever decide to do a study on the increase of
animals contracting a certain illness, I will be able to find the rate of change in
contraction values by using my Calculus skills. Also, I could use Calculus to find
dosages of medicines, which is important because an animal could be killed if the
wrong amounts of medicines are given. I am excited to put my new skills to use in
the work field.