More than 2.4 million miles of energy pipelines crisscross the United States. If assembled end-to-end, they would circle the Earth almost 100 times!

More than 2.4 million miles of energy pipelines crisscross the United States. If assembled end-to-end, they would circle the Earth almost 100 times!

Energy pipelines transport products such as crude oil or natural gas. Some of the pipelines are above ground, but most of them are buried. Often, energy pipelines pass through previously undisturbed areas. These areas need to be managed carefully to re-establish ecologically functioning systems. This complex process is called land reclamation.

A new study shows teams can increase the chance of successful land reclamation by first collecting soil data at short intervals. More collections can also lead to significant cost savings.

The study focused on a 170-mile length of natural gas pipeline in West Virginia. The land reclamation plan was to re-establish previously forested areas as a grassy, low-growth system.

Read more at American Society of Agronomy

Image: Surface soils are heavily disturbed during the pipeline construction process. It's just as important to analyze the soil's physical characteristics as the chemical properties. (Credit: Virginia Brown)