Most operators are aware of the threat that geohazards present to pipelines routed through hilly terrain or subsidence areas and those at river crossings. A range of management systems and tools is available to investigate and address these risks. Climate change is having an increasing but unpredictable impact on the development of pipeline geohazards linked to flood and erosion events, which can occur suddenly, overwhelming large areas and generating or accelerating instability of slopes in the region. Following such events, pipeline operators should assess their pipelines to ensure they remain in a safe condition. Regulators such as PHMSA are setting time limits for these checks to be carried out following extreme weather conditions or natural disasters.

Field verification of sites is a critical element of the integrity management process to confirm the nature and activity state of any hazards that are present. An imminent threat to the integrity of the pipeline may be obvious from an inspection of the site, prompting the execution of emergency protection works. However, there are also many instances where impending damage from geohazards during site assessments is not clear, not identified, or not understood. In addition, threats in more remote or less frequently patrolled areas may remain undetected for protracted periods, increasing the likelihood of damage or reducing the window for implementing protection works.

In this paper, we discuss geohazard threat management in light of climate change effects, the methods used to support this management, and how the rapid inspection of pipelines using IMU tools can be used to confirm the presence and progression of sudden or fast-moving ground movement events. The advantages of this approach are that it provides direct pipeline integrity information and that it can be combined with more sophisticated integrity assessment studies.