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Over the past several years, the idea of large-scale drilling of the Marcellus Shale gas fields across Pennsylvania has met with both support from those who believe that it will be a long-term boom to the state and local economy and skepticism by those who recall the devastating effects of coal mining on the environment, during the last energy rush in this state. While this debate plays out on news media and the gas drillers work things out with the Department of Environmental Protection, a less publicized but equally important negotiation is also being played out between the gas drillers and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. The main issue is how to keep track of and fairly share the financial burden from gas drilling companies who could potentially cause widespread damage to Pennsylvania state roads, during the well development process. After all, the traffic volumes of heavy vehicles from these well sites is excessive and many competing oil companies use the same roads as they travel to and from shared quarries, concrete and asphalt plants, water sources, and waste disposal / treatment sites. Keeping track of such a massive amount of data, across multiple organizations, is a challenge indeed. Presenting this data so that accurate and sound decisions can be made is even more difficult. In order to address this issue, Pennoni Associates has been working with about a dozen Marcellus Shale gas drillers, several road construction contractors and five PennDOT District offices to collect mountains of data about anticipated drilling schedules, truck volumes and highway routing, for the purpose of generating temporal / geospatial analyses of cumulative truck traffic on state bonded roads. While we are still refining the data collection and analysis processes, we have been largely successful so far in creating a very flexible and collaborative GIS framework, which emphasizes cooperation across organizations and the idea of sharing resources to meet common goals. Although the project was orchestrated on a state-wide level, the concepts are equally applicable to local communities and there are a number of lessons that can be taken from our experiences. This presentation offers both insight about these lessons learned and an overview of the methodology and results of the ongoing project.
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Consulting EngineersPennoni Associates Inc.
Providing Engineering Services Since 1966
Lessons in Collaborative GIS: Geospatial and Temporal Analysis of Truck Traffic from Marcellus Shale Drilling Activity across Pennsylvania
Tracey Olexa, CPSS EIT
M. Damon Weiss, P.E.
Marcellus Shale Drilling Activity in Pennsylvania
Year Drilled Wells Permits2007 43 992008 205 5192009 729 19852010 950 2108
2020 30,000 30,000+
What will be the Impact on our Roads?
Phases of a Marcellus Shale Drilling Operation
Pad Construction
Drilling Flowback & Production
Hydraulic Fracturing1
2
3
4
x10
x10x10
x100
SR 14, Seg 0310South of Troy
SR 6, Seg 0320West of Burlington
SR 6, Seg 0420East of Burlington
SR 6, Seg 0500West of SR 220 & Towanda
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
3101
3565 36913947
63046008
5706
6726
ADDT
2010 Count
5-YR AADT AVG
5-YR TRUCK VOL.
2010 AADT COUNTS
2010 TRUCK VOLUME
310
1300
247
1460
274
1260
277
967
5-YR AADT AVG
5-YR TRUCK VOL.
2010 AADT COUNTS
2010 TRUCK VOLUME
310
1300
247
1460
274
1260
277
967
Case Study: Bradford County
Source: Northern Tier Planning and Development Commission
5-Year Average Traffic vs. 2010 Traffic Counts
Operation FracNET
State Police Troop C260 inspections29 vehicles out of service111 citations issued
State Police Troop B227 inspections57 vehicles placed out of service241 citations issued
State Police Troop R142 inspections25 vehicles placedout of service
141 citations.
State Police Troop F239 vehicles inspected33 vehicles placed out of service205 citations issued
State Police Troop P166 inspections66 vehicles placed out of service358 citations issued
Increased Traffic Congestion
Actual Impacts to Local and State Roadways
Roads Under-designed for Large Truck Use
Actual Impacts to Local and State Roadways
Actual Impacts to Local and State Roadways
Accelerated Damage to Driving Surfaces
PennDOT Solution: New Requirements, Of Course
• Operators now required to prepare General and Winter Roadway Maintenance Plans
• Plans must include:– Detailed Schedule of Proposed Activities– Estimates of Truck Volumes on Bonded Roads
• Operators who fail to provide this information risk losing their road bonds.
The REAL Problem…
Who is Responsible for Repairs when Multiple Companies Operate on the Same Roads?
The Pennoni Solution: Collaborative GIS
Suddenly, Tracey and Damon get a new project…
• Build a GIS framework for calculating truck volumes on bonded state routes during Marcellus Shale drilling activities.
• System must be flexible: Multiple operators, multiple Districts, may includes state and local roads.
• Temporal, in addition to spatial, analysis required.
.
Oh, and by the way….
• The data is very noisy, sometimes incomplete• The data changes often – moving target• You’re not an expert in Marcellus Shale drilling procedures and
protocols? No worries, you will be soon…
• One more thing… fours days to complete or else our client losestheir road bonds.
.
Lesson #1
Maintain a good sense of humor. These challenges are the norm more often than the exception.
.
• Noisy, incomplete data
• Imperfect data that changes over time
• Domain Knowledge Learning Curve
• Client Expectations
.
The Pennoni Solution: Collaborative GIS
Data Collection from Gas Drilling
Companies
Data Normalization
and Input
Data Analysis
and Export
Sync with ArcGIS
Documents, spreadsheets, emails, phone calls, etc, from clients
Pennoni staff reviews and normalizes data
Microsoft Access Export
results
Join results to base map
Well IDSchedule IDActivity ID
The Pennoni Solution: Collaborative GIS
Raw data becomes…
Challenge: Inconsistent / Incomplete / Noisy Data
• Format of incoming data, quality of data, and level of details varied considerably from one company to the next.
• Big Surprise: Drill operators do not generally think like GIS and database designers.
.
Lesson #2: Generalize and Simplify Data Model
• Based on data received, our original data model was very complex.
• By inspecting the problem, however, we realized that important generalities exist in our data.
• This simplified our problem considerably!
.
Lesson #3: Standardize Data Collection
• To address data quality, Pennoni created a series of simple Excel spreadsheets which guide the operators to provide data in a more standard format.
• Not a perfect solution. Expect resistance.
• Also, we are exploring the idea of a web interface, where operators can manage their own data. This would make it truly a collaborative GIS system.
.
Challenge #2: Data Changes Frequently
• Drilling industry is defined by its fast pace and continual refinement of schedules and activities
• These changes affect productivity in ways that are often difficult for the client to understand.
• They can be frustrating for us as well. See Lesson #1: Maintain Sense of Humor.
.
Lesson #4: Learn to Automate Repetitive Tasks
We save a lot of time by automated two particularly repetitive tasks:• Querying arbitrary dates• Creating new routes
… But we had to be selective when we used these tools.
Challenge: Acquiring Domain Knowledge
• GIS has application in a myriad of industries, including Gas and Oil.
• Chances are if you’re an GIS expert, you’re probably not an expert in these other industries.
• So, how do you obtain the domain knowledge needed to design a good GIS system?
Lesson #5: Actively Involve Your Client
• Meetings• Phone Calls• Emails• Visit their workplace
• Work to understand their processes
• Help them understand your processes as well.
PennDOT would not allocate expenses between gas companies.
Lesson #6: Promote and Market Collaborative GIS
So, Pennoni hosted a meet-and-greet to encourage collaboration
Shared Pipes and Ponds
GIS can stimulate discussions for determining cost-effective solutions to traffic and resource challenges
Shared cost for roadway monitoring, roadway repair, water treatment, reuse and distribution
Collaborative GIS = Shared Resources
Lesson Learned
Maintain a GoodSense of Humor
Generalize andSimplify Data Model
Standardize DataCollection
Automate Repetitive Tasks
Actively Involve Your Clients
Promote and Market Collaborative GIS
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Thank You
Are there any questions?
