Twelve Mile Coulee Pipeline Topsoil Handling Soil Research Project – 1995 Annual Report

  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
  • Companies installing pipelines seek economical, practical and environmentally responsible methods of soil handling during pipeline construction to ensure successful soil reclamation.
    The objectives of the Twelve Mile Coulee Soil Research Project are to evaluate the impact of pipeline construction on Solonetzic soil quality and salt movement in the Brown soil zone. This research addresses soil handling practices on actively grazed native prairie in a landscape dominated by Brown Solonetz soils developed on till. Topsoil overstripping with a stepblade versus no stripping of trenchline (for small lines) is compared. Several important findings two years after summer construction are:
    • A step blade is effective in overstripping topsoils to re-establish fair surface soil quality as compared to poor quality on no strip plots. The native soils have a 10 cm Ah over an Ae and Bnt horizon sequence. Overstripping to 20-25 cm salvages the Ah to upper B horizons. Upon reclamation, the capability of overstripped soils is slightly better (about half a class) than that of no stripped soils.
    • There is increased topsoil salinity in both overstripped and no stripped treatments, but higher salinity in the latter. In overstripped treatments topsoil salinization occurs during topsoil replacement rather than during stripping.
    • In this prairie landscape dominated by Brown Solonetz soils, vegetation is responding well on both the overstripped and no stripped treatments.
    • No topsoil stripping is a viable alternative on straight lines, but is not viable on road and pipeline crossings or other major disturbances.

  • Date created
    1996
  • Subjects / Keywords
  • Type of Item
    Report
  • DOI
    https://doi.org/10.7939/R3513V064
  • License
    Permission for non-commercial use, publication or presentation of excerpts or figures is granted, provided appropriate attribution is cited. Commercial reproduction, in whole or in part, is not permitted without prior written consent. The use of these materials by the end user is done without any affiliation with or endorsement by TransCanada Pipelines Ltd. Reliance upon the end user's use of these materials is at the sole risk of the end user.
  • Language
  • Source
    TransCanada Pipelines Ltd.