To configure Pipeline properties

Once you have added the pipeline to the project, use the other fields in the Pipelines tab to configure options for the pipeline.

To view the Pipelines tab, select the project and click Properties, and then click Pipelines in the lower left corner. For more information on Pipeline properties and the relationship between the tally file and joint mapping records, refer to the Pipelines Help.

The Assign computed values as attributes and the Joint map ID defaults settings cannot be defined in Trimble Sync Manager. These settings must be configured in the Pipeline options screen in the Pipelines software.

Pipeline name

To create a new pipeline, click New and browse to the location of the tally CSV file or drag it from File Explorer and drop it onto the Pipeline name field.

One tally file is usually used as the master tally file for the entire pipeline project and shared amongst multiple survey crews. The name of the tally file is used as the Pipeline name.

Units

Click Units to select the units for jobs in the project. See Unit settings.

Coordinate system

Click Coordinate system and then click Define to define the coordinate system settings for jobs in the project. See Coordinate system settings.

Use the Tally file settings to define the relationships between fields in the tally file, the joint map file, and the attributes used to record the tally details.

If you are unsure which columns to select, click Expand to view first 100 records. The column headings and data in the first 100 records are shown. Click Expand to view first 100 records again when you have selected the columns.

Joint length ID

Select the column that identifies the joint length in the Joint length ID field.

Being able to identify the joint length field in the tally enables the software to automatically compare a joint length from the tally with a computed length between the two as-built welds.

Minimum PUP length

When a joint length is modified, if the length is shortened by more than the defined minimum PUP length, the software prompts you to add a PUP entry to the tally file.

Enable the Check against pipeline manifest switch to compare the entered values in the tally file against the selected manifest file. The software warns if there are differing values. If you accept the values entered in the tally file then a note record is added to the job file recording the details.

Use the Feature coding settings to define the relationships between fields in the tally file, the joint map file, and the attributes used to record the tally details.

Feature library

A read-only field showing the name of the Pipelines feature library being used.

To select the feature library, click Browse and select the FXL file. Click Accept.

Linked attributes

Select attributes from the feature library file that are used to link the weld and joint details to the points measured during the as-built survey.

For each field, select the attribute from the drop-down list. Only string, number, and integer attributes in the feature library file are listed.

The items in the list are shown as attribute name followed by the feature code that the attribute applies to.

Use the Joint mapping settings to link the joint IDs and attributes in the tally file with the weld ID of the joint.

Warn if joint not found in tally file

Select this check box to display a warning message in the Pipelines software if the joint ID entered does not exist in the tally file.

Default next joint ID from tally

Select this check box so that the Pipelines software searches the tally file for the next joint ahead (or joint behind if working upstream) and automatically fills out the ID field.

Weld ID default

When mapping welds, you can match the default weld ID selection with the direction along the pipeline that the joints were welded. Select Increasing or Decreasing when the weld IDs routinely increment or decrease. If the weld IDs have no regular pattern, select No default to disable this feature.

Present joint maps in

Select whether the joint maps are presented in File order or Sequence order. File order presents the joint maps in the order that they were recorded in the field. Sequence order presents the joint maps by matching the joint ahead and joint behind IDs to create linked sequences. The default setting is File order and provides faster presentation for larger files over Sequence order since no extra processing is needed.

In general, File order is most useful when data is being collected as the joint map is created. When reviewing data in the field that has already been collected, then it may be more useful to run a Joint mapping report with Sequence order selected.

Define weld fields

To capture additional details relating to welds, add extra fields to the form.

In the Define weld fields group, select the library attribute from the list and then click Add field. Keep adding fields until you are done. To change the order of fields in the form, select the field in the list and then click the appropriate arrow.

Define bend fields

To capture additional details relating to bends, add extra fields to the form.

In the Define bend fields group, select the library attribute from the list and then click Add field. Keep adding fields until you are done. To change the order of fields in the form, select the field in the list and then click the appropriate arrow.

Use these settings to select an alignment, the type of stationing used, and to define the corridor. Associating the alignment with the job enables the Pipelines software to calculate the station and offset from any point such as a measured pipeline point or the station recorded when performing a tally. A corridor/inclusion zone defines the area you should be working in and the software warns you if you try to store a point outside the working area.

Select the alignment RXL file for the pipeline.

An alignment is a mathematical definition of the horizontal (and sometimes also the vertical) path followed by the pipeline. The alignment is used to compute stationing. You can configure the stationing to be saved as an attribute with a point.

Select the Slope stationing check box to use slope stationing for alignment stations. Slope stationing takes into account the vertical distance as well as the horizontal distance when calculating distances or intervals along the pipeline. When slope stationing is enabled, stationing is computed on the slope distance instead of the horizontal distance.

 

  • Slope stationing can only be computed if there is a valid vertical alignment defined along with the horizontal alignment.
  • If Slope stationing is selected, station equations are not applied.

A simple corridor can be defined by left and right offsets from the alignment. If you select the Left and right offsets option, then enter the distance from the center of the alignment to the edge of the pipeline corridor in the corridor width left and right fields.

If the corridor is more complex, you should define the corridor limits as a polygon inclusion zone.

When measuring pipeline points with a corridor defined, the distance from the measured point to the left and right boundaries is recorded in the job. To see these values, click and select Job data and then select Review job or Point manager.

 

  • If no pipe alignment file has been selected and the corridor limits are defined by a polygon, the software has no way of knowing which is the left or right boundary. In this situation the software assumes the shorter distance is to the left boundary and the longer distance is to the right boundary.

  • If the measured point is outside the boundary, the distance to the closest boundary is stored as a negative value.

  • If the corridor boundary is defined by a polygon and there is no alignment associated with the pipeline the Pipelines software does not know which is the left and right boundaries. In that case the values are recorded as Dist to closest bdy and Dist to other bdy.

To define the corridor limits as a polygon inclusion zone, select Polygon and fill out the remaining fields in the Alignment group:

Corridor limits polygon file

Select the file containing the inclusion zones. The Pipelines software supports Shapefile, DXF, and LandXML corridor inclusion zones.

 

  • Shapefile: must contain polygon definitions (POLYGON, POLYGONM or POLYGONZ) and use grid coordinates
  • DXF: must contain closed polyline (POLYLINE OR LWPOLYLINE) definitions

  • LandXML: must contain closed <Parcel> elements

Active

Select the Active check box to control whether the selected file is used. If the check box is selected:

  • If you try to store a point the software warns you if you are outside the corridor.

  • The corridor is displayed in the map, hatched with the selected map display color.

Clear the Active check box if you wish to work outside the corridor without seeing warnings when storing points.

Map display color

The corridor is displayed on the map as a hatched polygon. Select the color for the polygon and hatching.

Use these settings to enable the software to calculate the depth of cover for a point on the as-built pipeline by calculating the difference in elevation from a surface model or a previously measured point.

Enable the Compute pipe cover switch to automatically compute the pipe cover during survey of the as‑built pipeline. Selecting this check box makes the other fields in this group available.

In addition to configuring the Compute cover settings in the Pipeline properties tab, you must:

  1. Create feature codes in the FXL file for each measurement type (for example, weld, bend, valve) and make sure that each feature code has an attribute to record the joint ID or weld ID.
  2. For each feature code that has an attribute to record the joint ID or weld ID, use the Attribute linking group in the Pipeline properties tab to link the attribute to the joint ID or weld ID information from the tally file.
  1. Select Use ground point in the Method field.
  2. In the Default ground point field, select whether by default the Pipelines software uses:
    • the last point measured or entered into the current job as the ground point.

    • the closest point.

    If you select closest point, the software searches the current job first, and then any other jobs or CSV files linked to the current job, and uses the closest point as the ground point.

  3. In the Use only ground points with the code field, enter the code that a point must have for it to be used as a ground point. This limits the points that can be selected as the last point or the closest point to ground points that have the specified code.

  4. If required, in the Maximum pipeline to ground point distance field, enter the maximum distance to the ground point from the point on the as-built pipeline.

    During the as-built pipeline survey, the software warns if the distance from the measured position to the ground point exceeds the specified value, but you can continue to store the point. A note record is added to the job recording the distance to the ground point.

  1. Select Use surface model in the Method field.
  2. In the Surface model field, select the surface model to use.

    The surface model should be a Trimble terrain model (TTM) file created using office software such as Trimble Business Center or Trimble Link™ for AutoCAD Civil 3D. Alternatively, you can create a TTM file on the controller from the Map.

    If the TTM file comes from LiDAR data, it will probably be a very large file. For best performance, Trimble recommends reducing the file to the width of the pipeline corridor. If it is still very large, you can split the TTM into sections and use one section at a time.

To compute the cover depth from the ground elevation interpolated from the vertical alignment of the pipeline, select Use pipe alignment in the Method field.

You must have selected a Pipeline alignment .rxl file in the Alignment settings group of the Pipeline options screen.

Select the method for defining the minimum cover. The options are to specify a minimum depth and then reconfigure this as required, or to preconfigure the depths in the office based on stationing. If you select:

  • Fixed minimum cover, enter the minimum cover in the Minimum cover field. Reconfigure this value as required along the pipeline.

  • From CSV file, select the CSV file to use. The CSV file must contain a header row. The header names could be anything such as Station,Depth or Station,Cover. If the term “slope” appears anywhere in the header, then the software assumes that the station values in the first column are slope station values. The software uses the information in the CSV file to set the minimum cover from the defined station onward.

To compute cover from the original ground surface topo survey, you could use the original topo data to create a CSV file of points that can later be linked to your job to compute cover from. Alternatively you could use a surface created on the controller.

Use these settings to add an exclusion zone file to the map and to set how the file is used.

Exclusion zone file

Select the file containing exclusion zones. The Pipelines software supports Shapefile, DXF, and LandXML exclusion zones.

 

  • Shapefile: must contain polygon definitions (POLYGON, POLYGONM or POLYGONZ) and use grid coordinates
  • DXF: must contain closed polyline (POLYLINE OR LWPOLYLINE) definitions
  • LandXML: must contain closed <Parcel> elements

Map display color

Exclusion zones are displayed on the map as hatched polygons. Select the color for the polygons and hatching. Only one exclusion zone file can be used at a time, but the file can contain multiple polygons.

Active

Select the Active check box to control whether the selected file is used. If the check box is selected:

  • If you try to store a point the software warns you if you are inside an exclusion zone.
  • If you move inside an exclusion zone, a dialog appears and you must click OK to clear it, and a the name of the exclusion zone is shown in the status line.

  • The exclusion zone(s) are displayed in the map, hatched with the selected map display color.

    When you select the exclusion zone file in the Pipeline options screen and select the Active check box, the hatched polygon(s) appear in the map. Selecting the exclusion zone file as a visible layer in the map has no effect on the display or color of the exclusion zone hatching.

Clear the Active check box if you wish to work inside the exclusion zone without seeing warnings when storing points.

Record zone entry and exit

Select whether the system records details of when the controller enters or exits from an exclusion zone. The records contain a position and a time stamp.