American Lifelines Alliance. Guidelines for the design of buried steel pipe

July 2001 with addenda February 2005
This report was written under contract to the American Lifelines
Alliance, a public-private partnership between the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) and the American Society of CiVil
Engineers (ASCE). This report was reviewed by a team representing
practicing engineers and academics.The American Lifelines Alliance (ALA) was formed in 1998 luider a cooperative agreement
between the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA). In 1999. ALA requested a group of civil and mechanical
engineers. listed in the Acknowledgements. to prepare a guide for the design of buried steel pipe.
The group prepared the guidelines presented in this repolt. with an emphasis on the fundamental
design equations suitable for hand calculations. and where necessary. guidance for finite element
analysis.
1.1 Project Objective
The purpose of this guide is to develop design provisions to evaluate the integ1ity of biu'ied pipe
for a range of applied loads. The provisions contained in this guide apply to the following lcinds
of buried pipe:
- New or existing bluied pipe. made of carbon or alloy steel. fabricated to ASTM or API
material specifications.
- Welded pipe. joined by welding teclmiques permitted by the ASME code or the API
standards.
- Piping desigied. fabricated. inspected and tested in accordance with an ASME B31
pressure piping code. These codes are: B31 .1 power piping. B31.3 process piping. B314
liquid hydrocarbon pipelines. B31.5 refrigeration piping. B318 gas transmission and
distribution pipi g. B319 building services piping. B31.1 1 slimy piping. and ASME
Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code. Section III. Division 1 nuclear power plant piping.
- Bluied pipe and its interface with buildings and equipment.