Salt Lake CC, Math 1210

Pipeline Project

Considered Costs:
Labor and Fees to run on BLM land: $480,000.
Labor and fees to run on Private land: $480,000 + $360,000 for right of way = $840,000.
Drilling through the mountain: $4,500,000 + Environmental impact study and cost of time delay.
Environmental Impact Study: $600,000.
Time Delay: $100,000 per month.

Proposed Routes of pipeline and Costs:

As was asked, the following calculations have been run to find the best route for a new pipeline
from a high-producing well on BLM ground to the refinery. All possible routes were considered
with special circumstances including running across private land and drilling through the nearby
mountain. Below are the costs of each option with all calculations from the cost data given.

Calculations of Proposed Routes:

Each of the calculations below calculates the cost per mile of the proposed routes. A brief
description of the proposed route is also given for clarity.

a) Determine the cost of running the pipeline strictly on BLM ground with two different
cases:
i) One running west, south and then east to the refinery.

8($480,000) + 16($480,000) + 40($480,000) = $30,720,000

ii) One heading east through the mountain and then south to the refinery.

32($480,000) + 16($480,000) + ($4,500,000 + 600,000 + 8($100,000)) = $28,940,000

b) Determine the cost of running the pipeline:

i) The shortest distance across the private ground to the refinery.

𝑥 2 = 322 + 162 ⇒ 𝑥 2 = 1280 ⇒ 𝑥 ≈ 35.77𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑠

35.77($480,000 + $360,000) = $30,052,753.62

ii) Straight south across the private ground, then straight east to the refinery.

16($840,000) + 32($480,000) = $28,800,000

 c) The optimal route through private land and BLM land to minimize cost. We will be using
principles of Optimization and Pythagorean’s Theorem to determine the most cost-
effective path for the pipeline. First, we must find the angle at which the cost of the right
of way fee and the cost of pipe material and labor would be at a minimum.

162 = 256 , 𝑥 2 = 𝑢𝑛𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑛

√𝑥 2 + 256 (32 − 𝑥)
𝑃(𝑥) = −
16 32
𝑥 1
𝑃′ (𝑥) = −
16√𝑥 2 + 256 32

256 1 √3
32𝑥 − 16√𝑥 2 + 256 = 0 ⇒ 1024𝑥 2 − 256𝑥 2 + 256 = 0 ⇒ 𝑥 2 = = ⇒𝑥 =
768 3 3
This value or running straight across private land is determined to give to minimum value for our
function P(x). We can plug both values into the equation to find the optimal value per mile of run
as shown below.

2
√√3 + 256 √3
√02 + 256 (32 − 0) 3 32 − 3
+ = 2 𝑜𝑟 + = 1.9826
16 32 16 32
√3
Since the value ( 3 ) results is a lower answer, we use this to find our other lengths using
√3
proportions and the properties of a 30,60,90 triangle. Our short length will be 16 = 9.24 𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑠.
3

Pythagorean’s Theorem shows us what the run length will be as below.

2
2
16√3
16 + = 𝑐 2 ⇒ 256 + 85.333 = 341.333 ⇒ 𝑐 = 18.47𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑠.
3
Using the lengths above we can calculate the length of pipe run on BLM land by subtracting the
short length from the 32-mile run to the refinery.

32 − 9.24 = 22.76 𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑠.

The cost can then be calculated as was done above going straight across.

18.47($840,000) + 22.76($480,000) = $26,439,600

Resources:

The graph below provides the minimum versus the shorth length of the triangle. Also a picture
showing the proposed run for the pipeline is provided.
 Optimal Length of Pipeline across Private Land
2.02
2
1.98
1.96
1.94
P(x)

1.92
1.9
1.88 Min.
1.86
1.84
0 5 10 15 20
Opposite side of triangle length (miles)

8 miles BLM Ground

BLM Ground
16 miles

Private Ground

Pipeline Route

40 miles - BLM Ground

Reflection:

Calculus covers many aspects of math that is difficult to summarize in a paragraph. Optimization
as shown above is a great tool that I can see many useful aspects of in my daily life. As the
project shows finding the optimal path can save millions of dollars for large projects. Since I
work for a pipe fabricator I find it interesting to use this example as I can see things like what I
do daily. Finding optimal area and volume will also be very helpful in things I plan to do in my
life. As a civil engineering student, I know I will also need to use principles of trigonometry and
calculus used in this assignment at times in my career to find solutions to engineering problems.