The Calgary Geotechnical Society (CyGS) is pleased to announce that our March event will be held as a full-day, in-person short course in downtown Calgary. There are no virtual attendance options for this event.

Registration fees include lunch, as well as complimentary food and beverages provided throughout the break periods. 

Tickets are on sale now, and space is limited - register today to secure your spot!

All ticket purchases are final and are non-refundable.

The course is designed to educate engineers, geoscientists or pipeline integrity personnel conducting or managing site-specific landslide, extreme weather event or settlement subsidence assessments for pipelines. Advice on the best use of traditional ground monitoring techniques such as borehole inclinometers, surface survey and LiDAR will also be presented. The course will be to introduce pipeline monitoring techniques that provide direct evidence of soil to pipe interactions.  Pipeline monitoring techniques discussed include pipeline locates, pipe wall assessments (aka. electromagnetic tomography) and in-line inspections. The focus will be the integration of traditional ground/pipeline monitoring techniques with other sources of information including operator records and potential interacting pipeline anomalies. Additional topics covered include pipeline materials/construction, pipeline emergencies, pipeline rules of thumb and mitigations. 

Who Should Attend?

• Engineers/geoscientists working within the pipeline industry conducting geohazard assessments and/or any student/engineer/geoscientist interested in working in/for the pipeline industry. Even experienced practitioners will find the course useful. If anything, the presenters are entertaining!
• Pipeline integrity personnel managing or collaborating with consultants on landslide geohazard management

Presenters:
Doug Dewar graduated from the University of New Brunswick with a Bachelor’s of Science in Geological engineering and the University of Alberta with a Master’s of Science in Geotechnical Engineering.  Doug initially worked in consulting for 7 years focusing on landslides and terrain stability for the forest, mining, and pipeline industries before transitioning to working for pipeline operators for the last 22 years.  He is currently the Senior Staff Engineer at Pembina Pipelines working with a team of internal professionals and consultants to implement a geohazard management program for approximately 20,000 km of pipelines in Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia and the plains of the U.S.A.  Doug has published numerous papers and been involved in several industry groups focusing on the incorporation of ground and pipeline monitoring techniques into geohazard management programs.  Specific interests include the use of in-line inspection methods to detect, assess and manage interacting landslides.
 
Nicki Robertson is currently the General Manager and Principal Engineering at D2 Integrity Canada. She earned a BSc in Composite Materials Engineering from Winona State University, followed by a PhD in Materials Engineering from the University of Alberta. With 15+ years in the pipeline industry, her experience spans academic research, consulting, and pipeline operations. Nicki is passionate about improving pipeline safety through her professional work, participation on CSA code committees, and involvement in industry conferences such as the International Pipeline Conference.
 
Heidi Manicke is Geological Engineer at Pembina Pipeline Corporation, where she works on the Geohazard Management Program - though she prefers the title "Landslide Hunter."  She received a Bachelor's degree in Geological Engineering from the University of British Columbia, then completed the "Tour-de-Consultants" before landing at Pembina in 2023.  Her interests include geotechnical instrumentation, with a special place in her heart for strain gauges and slope inclinometers. When not at work, she enjoys playing outdoors, gardening and being tormented by her cat, Mittens. 

Jeremy Groves has over 16 years of experience in geotechnical engineering for oil and gas pipeline and facility development throughout Canada and the United States. He completed a Master of Applied Science in Civil Engineering at the University of British Columbia where he acquired specialized skills in advanced soil mechanics, geotechnical earthquake engineering, and advanced soil-pipe interaction research. Jeremy specializes at BGC in supporting HDD projects through routing, planning, design and construction. He has extensive experience with feasibility and risk assessments, and geotechnical investigative drilling for HDD projects. For the last several years he has also been leading the development of BGC’s drilling data software platform for HDD and other drilling technologies.

Cam Breckon holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and Master of Engineering in Geotechnical Engineering from the University of Alberta. As a senior geotechnical engineer at BGC Engineering in Edmonton, Cam brings over 15 years of consulting experience across the pipeline, transportation, mining, and oilsands sectors throughout Western Canada. He specializes in geohazard risk management, focusing on the identification, investigation, characterization, IMU and stress analysis, and mitigation of landslides affecting pipelines. He also has experience supporting new pipeline developments from initial planning through construction.

Damian McClarty is an Associate and Senior Geological Engineer specializing in the assessment, mitigation, and management of geohazards. He has contributed to various infrastructure projects in Western Canada including linear infrastructure, existing communities and community development projects, hydro-electric and irrigation dams, and mining facilities. His project experience ranges from preliminary design through to construction and ongoing operations, including both regional and site-specific geohazard assessments, mitigation designs, and long-term management of risks associated with geohazards. He also co-authored the recently published EGBC Professional Practice Guidelines for Landslide Mapping.

Jan Bracic graduated from the University of Alberta with a degree in civil engineering in 2008.  Jan had 15 years of operator experience with Pembina Pipelines prior to joining Stantec and a senior associate focusing on managing geohazard threats to oil and gas pipeline networks.  Jan has specific experience in slope stabilization, ILI IMU interpretation and conducting pipeline fitness for service assessments.  His favorite part of the job is looking at issues from a fitness for service perspective, specifically not all eroding water crossings need to be fixed, and not all moving slopes need to be stabilized.

Zak Semeniuk holds a Bachelor of Science in Geophysics from the University of Calgary, graduating in 2018.  Upon graduation, he began his career in the geotechnical consulting field, with work focusing on geohazard management for the pipeline industry. Zak has extensive experience in the assessment and mitigation of geohazards, as well as in the development and implementation of geohazard management programs for pipeline operators. His technical experience includes the application of IMU data in geohazard assessments.  In 2024, Zak began a secondment with Pembina Pipeline, where he continues to gain experience in geohazard management and program development, IMU data analysis, and cross-disciplinary collaboration to support safe and reliable pipeline operations.+

Jillian Yaworski is a Geotechnical Engineer with 10 years of project management and technical experience in pipeline geohazard management in Western Canada. Jillian has been with BGC Engineering since graduating from Civil Engineering at the University of Alberta in 2015 and has experience with various field and office-based assessments for slope and watercourse crossings including detailed hydrotechnical and geotechnical assessments, LiDAR interpretation, instrumentation monitoring, Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) data interpretation and field-based pipeline geohazard inspections. She has been involved in geohazard management from both the consultant and operator side having spent a year seconded to Pembina Pipelines.

Thanks to Cambio Earth for sponsoring the venue!

Pipeline Geotechnique Short Course Description

Time	Outline (subject to change)
8:00 to 8:30	Registration
8:30 to 8:45	1) Introductions Meet your Presenter (or Punisher) and Participants
8:45 to 9:30	2) Pipeline 101 for Geotechs
9:30 to 9:45	3) Current State of Practice  a. Company/consultant relationships  b. Geohazard management programs  c. Consultant site-specific bias – maintenance versus fitness-for-service issues
9:45 to 10:05	4) Landslide Geohazard Overview
10:05 to 10:15	Break
10:15 to 11:15	5) Ground Monitoring Technologies for Pipeline Applications  a. Subsurface: SI/SAA  b. Subsurface: Piezometers  c. Surface: Conventional/GPS surveying  d. Near Real-Time GNSS  e. Airphoto/Orthophoto, LiDAR ground scanning/aerial and InSAR
11:15 to 12:15	6) Pipe Monitoring Techniques  a. Locates  b. Strain gauges  c. Introduction to Inline Inspection Technologies  d. Caliper Tools  e. IMU (bending strains)  f. Other Technologies
12:15 to 13:00	Lunch
13:00 to 14:15	6) Pipe Monitoring Techniques (cont’d)
14:15 to 14:45	7) Pipeline Construction and Maintenance Activities They did what?
14:45 to 15:15	8) Mitigations – Options and Design Advice (Surface Pipeline)
15:15 to 15:30	Break
15:30 to 16:00	8) Mitigations (cont’d) – Data collection and analysis for HDD
16:00 to 16:30	9) Stress / Strain Relief
16:30 to 17:00	10) Emergencies – No textbook can cover this – lived experiences consultants cannot ever tell you about
17:00 to 17:15	Closing Statements