G. S. Evans
EGS (Asia) Ltd, Singapore

Electronic Burial & Plough Assessment - Fact or Fantasy

Abstract

More than 70% of submarine cable system outages are due to third party damage on the continental shelf. With cable burial being the most effective method of cable protection, it is not surprising that system owners are demanding 100% buriable routes on the continental shelf to safeguard the substantial capital investment and revenue earning potential of today's advanced technology submarine telecommunications systems.

An essential element of the contract liability risk management process performed by system suppliers and installers, is a reliable assessment of the prevailing conditions along the route that will impact on a contractual commitment to achieve 100% cable burial to the full depth of burial specified by the system owner.

Data reliability and high operating costs of traditional burial and plough assessment tools, has focused attention towards the use of electronic remote sensing data collected during the route survey, and in the application of new generation direct testing techniques that can be cost effectively integrated into the route survey operations and used as the primary data sets for burial and plough assessment.

The purpose of this paper, is to critically examine electronic burial and plough assessment techniques and procedures as a means of providing system suppliers and installers with adequate reliable information upon which to develop system engineering and installation strategies that comply with the owners contractual requirements on system protection and burial. The following key issues are addressed:

	Selection, performance and limitations of remote sensing survey tools.
	The types of data sets output from remote sensing survey tools.
	Assessing burial conditions and ploughability from remote sensing data.
	Ground truthing.
	Reliability of burial and plough assessment interpretation.

Emphasis is given to the fact that for a reliable assessment to be made of burial and ploughing conditions using electronic methods, it is essential to be cognisant of the performance and operational limitations of the survey tools being employed.