Method for monitoring the position of above-ground pipelines under permafrost conditions

A method for monitoring positions of an above-ground pipeline located in areas subject to permafrost conditions, comprising:

• installing deformation control benchmarks on piles of support foundations of the above-ground pipeline, the deformation control benchmarks being positioned at least 0.5 meters (0.5 m) above a ground surface;
• installing deep benchmarks spaced apart by 1.5 kilometers (1.5 km) or less and spaced at least 50 m from any of the support foundations;
• installing reference stations along the above-ground pipeline such that the reference stations are spaced from each other by between 20 km and 40 km from each other and are adapted to communicate with a server;
• detecting initial coordinates of the deformation control benchmarks and the deep benchmarks during installation;
• detecting initial heights of the above-ground pipeline at the locations of the benchmarks;
• transmitting the detected initial coordinates and the detected initial heights to a server for building a digital pipeline model;
• detecting subsequent coordinates and subsequent heights of the above-ground pipeline using a rover;
• transmitting the detected subsequent coordinates and the detected subsequent heights of the above-ground pipeline to the server;
• and
• determining any deflection of the above-ground pipeline by comparing the detected initial heights of the above-ground pipeline and the detected subsequent heights of the above-ground pipeline by the server.