Development of Automated Main Replacement at South Jersey Industries

Within the utilities industry, a simple question is always pondered: When is the right time to replace old assets? Well, in the natural gas industry, that question is not something that can be seen nor heard, but only smelt. In the form of Mercaptan, the compound that makes natural gas smell and alerts of a leak in the gas system. This chemical compound has saved lives and prevented countless amounts of damage. Now, with the power of GIS, these leak points can be mapped like never before with incredible accuracy. However, with all the data, there must be a way to summarize and justify the cost benefits of leak locations related to sections of the Gas Main. This is where Automated Main Replacement (AMR) works to allow end users to justify and develop future projects and use GIS data to collect the necessary information needed to create a replacement project. This project will detail the workflow and concepts used to develop datasets and web applications that were synonymous with the business's current AMR workflow using GIS technologies.