Experts, new technology will search for fault lines

Work will aid pipeline expansion project

Can Kinder Morgan run an oil pipeline through Burnaby Mountain?

That’s the multimillion- dollar question the energy company is trying to answer by bringing in two experts from Simon Fraser University to provide information on earthquake fault lines for the entire Lower Mainland.

Kinder Morgan is working with SFU’s John Clague and Doug Stead to help determine the feasibility of the latest routing option for the Trans Mountain Expansion Project, which involves boring or tunnelling through Burnaby Mountain to connect the storage tanks to the Westridge Marine Terminal.

“( Clague and Stead) are going to be assessing all of the surficial geology and some of these geological features, such as the landslide on the north side of Burnaby Mountain,” said Greg Toth, senior project director for the pipeline expansion.

“There are questions: Is there active faulting in the Lower Mainland area, or is there not?”

Clague and Stead are both research chairs and professors in SFU’s school of earth sciences.

Clague is a geologist who specializes in natural hazards, while Stead is an engineering geologist with a focus on slope instability.

Clague said he’s excited the project will use a new form of imaging to search for faults in the Lower Mainland, not just on Burnaby Mountain.

Lidar imagery is a relatively new technology that uses lasers to scan surfaces to create detailed 3D images.

The images Clague will be working with were shot from aircraft.

Surface vegetation can be removed from the images electronically, so scientists like Clague are left with topographical maps that are better than those based on conventional aerial photography.