High Consequence Area (HCA) Analysis

Home / Integrity Management / High Consequence Area (HCA) Analysis


Identify High Consequence Areas

Transmission Operators must identify all high-consequence areas (HCAs) that fall within the pipeline impact radius. This involves identifying the pipeline HCA segments and identifying sites and structures surrounding the pipe.

HCA data must be managed and kept up-to-date in order to meet PHMSA expectations. Whether you manage scattered regulatory data using outdated manual processes, or you have the most sophisticated technology and processes, the key challenge of acquiring comprehensive, up-to-data data remains.

Confidence in HCA Data
UtiliSphere HCA Analysis analyzes and maps high consequence areas (HCAs) along any pipeline segment including identified site Integrity data (residential, commercial, industrial and recreational). Because UtiliSphere leverages the most accurate, comprehensive and up-to-date data related to HCAs, pipeline operators can feel confident in the HCA data and focus their time on other critical Integrity Management activities. This means safer operations and easier PHMSA audits!

Our experts follow a repeatable and verifiable methodology – including considerations for spatial inaccuracies – that falls within PHMSA’s Integrity Management guidelines to collect, verify and analyze comprehensive data. The HCA data is accessible via Intelligence Center in any GIS format for sharing, collaboration and correlation.

UtiliSphere HCA Analysis maps and analyzes high consequence areas (HCAs) along any pipeline segment including identified site Integrity data (residential, commercial, industrial, limited mobility and recreational).
Safer Operations and Less Painful Audits

Our experts follow a repeatable and verifiable methodology that falls within PHMSA’s Integrity Management guidelines to collect, verify and analyze comprehensive HCA data.

More Efficient Integrity Management Programs

Effective integrity management programs involve more than just HCAs. UtiliSphere Integrity Services removes the burden of collecting, analyzing and maintaining HCA data, enabling the operator to focus on other critical integrity management activities and allowing for a more cost-effective process.

Partnership with an Industry Leader

By choosing UtiliSphere Integrity Solutions, you’re choosing to work with a company that exclusively serves the needs of the energy and utility industry. With more than 15-years of experience protecting the integrity of pipeline from excavation damage, the primary cause of pipeline failure, you can feel confident that the irth Solutions team understands your unique needs.

Collect & Verify

We collect and verify identified site & structure data including Residential, Commercial, Industrial, and Recreational where we identify Limited Mobility, 4 Story Building, Occupancy Levels and other Integrity variables as well as including Imagery from sources like the National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP).

Analyze

We cross-reference the identified sites (i.e. structures within pipeline impact radius) with the pipe centerline to identify HCAs within the pipeline impact radius.

Deliver

We provide data through UtiliSphere in any GIS format. This includes structure (points), potential impact radius (polygons), and HCA-identified pipe segments (lines) as well as risk ranking data (variables) associated with each identified structure, potential impact radius, and HCA-identified pipe segments. Specialized alignment sheets are also available. We also provide a validated & documented methodology for PHMSA compliance.