China to Promote Underground Pipeline Pre-warning Tech

Recently, the general office of China state council issued “Guidance Opinions about Strengthening the Construction of Urban Underground Pipeline Management”. The opinion aims to promote monitoring and early warning technology for underground pipeline. Relevant departments should encourage underground pipeline owners to develop and apply this technology. It will realize functions such as intelligent monitoring and early warning, automatic processing of harmful gas, automatic alarm, explosion-proofing, anti-theft well covers etc to increase the efficiency of the underground pipeline safety management and reduce all kinds of accidents.
 
The opinion points out that frequently occurring underground pipeline safety accidents caused serious influence on the normal operation of cities and the safety of citizens’ life and property security in recent period of time. The "11.22" Qingdao pipeline leakage explosion especially caused huge losses of life and property, which exposes the problems of urban underground pipeline systems such as daily maintenance, hidden perils prevention and emergency management.
To ensure the safe operation of the urban underground pipeline, the following five aspects should be focused on:
 
First, perfect and carry out daily maintenance and patrol system. Build the system for underground pipeline patrol and hidden perils prevention. Establish patrol records including the time, places, problems, processing measures, etc.
 
Second, promote underground pipeline monitoring and pre-warning technology. Draw lessons from the successful experience and combine with the characteristics of regions. Encourage the development and application of monitoring and pre-warning technology to increase the efficiency of the underground pipeline safety management.
 
Third, conduct underground pipeline operations in strict accordance with the relevant requirements. Establish corresponding management system. Construction units should query present situation of underground pipeline and give detailed information to construction units before project planning and design.
 
Fourth, practice main responsibility of rectification and strengthen the rectification work of major hidden dangers. Hidden dangers such as illegal occupation, insufficient safety distance, old pipeline, abandoned pipeline etc are difficult to rectify and require a lot of money. The city government and relevant departments should intensify the coordination and investment of rectification.
 
Fifth, strengthen emergency management and improve the ability of emergency. Departments of industry and ownership units should develop targeted special contingency plans according to the risks of transmission medium and characteristics of pipeline. Organize regular exercise and inspect the practicability and maneuverability of plans to strengthen emergency construction and improve professional quality.