For more than two decades, ENTRUST has led the way in utility engineering innovation. “Powering the Transformation” reflects not only our rich history of engineering breakthroughs but also our ongoing dedication to pioneering advanced solutions across a wide range of industries.
Today, we continue this tradition by embracing forward-thinking practices that set us apart. Each group within ENTRUST embodies this spirit of innovation, contributing unique engineering solutions that not only meet but exceed the evolving demands of our clients. Our engineering services go beyond the expected, offering creative and practical solutions that make a lasting impact.
Michael Detloff, Sr. Vice President of Gas Projects & Programs, and Jim Francis, Vice President of SMS Consulting in our Integrity Group, go in-depth about how we go above and beyond for our clients—and how we always have.
Michael Dettloff has been a driving force at ENTRUST Solutions Group since 2011, beginning his journey as a Design Engineer in Woodridge, IL. He quickly moved to the Englewood, CO office, where he contributed to the team’s growth from 4 to over 275 members.
Now, as a Sr. Vice President, Michael leads the Natural Gas Projects and Programs team, embodying ENTRUST’s #PoweringTransformation vision by delivering innovative engineering solutions for utility challenges.
With a Civil Engineering degree from Purdue University, Michael is a registered Professional Engineer and a member of the American Gas Association (AGA). He finds fulfillment in fostering collaboration among his teams and supporting their professional development, driving the transformational impact ENTRUST strives for in the utility sector.
Natural gas cast iron mains have presented significant challenges for a long time due to their material properties. Many of these pipes are part of aging infrastructure, often exceeding 60 years in service, which raises concerns about their reliability. ENTRUST has been helping to replace these mains through our skills and history in safety, project management, and engineering.
Cast Iron is a brittle material when subjected to external loading, and many of the cast iron mains in use were and still are located in urban areas with ongoing construction activities that can apply unintended forces, leading to failures. Additionally, these mains often feature bell and spigot joints sealed with lead, which can be damaged by nearby earth-moving activities, resulting in a location for leaks to occur. Furthermore, cast iron is highly susceptible to corrosion and graphitization, weakening the material. This deterioration raises the risk of leaks, creating safety hazards and potential incidents.
Regulatory pressures have intensified the need for replacement, as outdated materials are no longer deemed safe for modern gas distribution. Consequently, natural gas utilities are prioritizing the transition to more durable materials, such as polyethylene, to enhance safety and efficiency in natural gas distribution systems.
Early on, we distinguished ENTRUST in the industry by working closely with natural gas utilities across the country to develop comprehensive accelerated main replacement programs (AMRP) for their cast iron mains. By systematically replacing these outdated mains, our clients have significantly reduced the risk of accidents and ensured a more reliable gas distribution system.
We have had to follow several regulatory and compliance requirements during the design of cast iron main replacement projects to ensure safety and adherence to industry standards. These considerations included: 1) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) regulations mandating the identification and replacement of cast iron pipes that exhibit significant deterioration. 2) Compliance with the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 192, which outlines safety standards for natural gas transportation. 3) State regulations imposing specific timelines and reporting requirements for replacement projects, necessitating careful planning and execution. 4) Environmental regulations requiring minimal disruption to local ecosystems and communities, as well as construction permits and approvals from local authorities.
To address these requirements, we work closely with our clients to develop a thorough and organized accelerated main replacement program (AMRP) that will prioritize mains to be replaced based on their risk assessment. Additionally, we may utilize advanced modeling software to simulate pipeline performance under various conditions, allowing for more advanced program development, accurate design, and risk mitigation.
Finally, we engage in continuous training and development of our staff to stay updated on evolving regulations and best practices, ensuring that our designs meet or exceed compliance requirements. While that may not always be the most exciting portion of innovation, it’s a necessary step in ensuring our staff understands and thoroughly adopts every innovation we pull off the shelf.
As we develop an AMRP for natural gas utilities, significant efficiency is seen in the program as our dedicated engineering/design team supports the client’s program. This dedicated engineering/design team is quickly able to align to the client’s standards as well as the federal, state, and local regulations that will impact the projects. This support allows our team to execute engineering deliverables, receive permits, and provide an engineering design that is cost-efficient for construction.
Additionally, we design for the installation method that tries to minimize disruption to the surrounding area and can have a construction schedule that is not impacted by potential slowdowns. Lastly, the materials specified on each project reduce the risk of leaks and have enhanced durability for the life span of the new main.
Over the years of this project type’s evolution, we have effectively designed many cast iron replacement programs with a strong emphasis on minimizing disruption to communities and essential services during construction. Our approach has classically begun with the meticulous planning and development of the main replacement program, where the first step is to identify the limits of each replacement project.
As projects are designed, we engage with both internal and external stakeholders early in the process, and we foster open communication, which helps address concerns and expectations.
Furthermore, we utilize advanced engineering/design practices and GIS mapping to optimize project designs, allowing for efficient execution that reduces the need for extensive road closures or service interruptions. Additionally, our commitment to safety and reliability ensures that our designs allow for replacement construction to be conducted efficiently and with minimal impact on the surrounding area, gaining community trust and support.
We have long been innovators and regulation adopters for our clients through the replacement of cast iron pipes. However, cast iron replacement occurs even still today. We’re continuing to push the envelope of innovation within this project type.
We use innovative installation methods on these types of projects, including:
In addition to innovative construction methodologies, our team has also worked with various clients to improve the reliability of their systems for the customers being served. In many areas, the cast iron mains have been used to serve customers via low-pressure gas (7 inches of water column). When planning and designing replacement projects, our team has worked with the natural gas utilities to introduce medium-pressure gas where possible.
By extending and installing gas mains utilizing medium pressure, the customers being served now have access to a gas supply that is less susceptible to outages caused by variations in demand or other obstructions such as water infiltration which can lower the capacity of the mains which are serving customers.
In closing, ENTRUST’s combination of innovation, responsiveness, consistent quality, and a strong focus on safe “cost-efficient construction” designs has solidified ENTRUST’s reputation as a leader in AMRP. Still today, our clients rest assured that we will develop a program that enhances safety, durability, and efficiency in their natural gas system.
Jim Francis, a seasoned engineer with over 30 years of experience, is the Vice President of SMS Consulting at EN. He prioritizes building relationships, believing that personal connections are key to driving #PoweringTransformation in the industry.
Jim earned his mechanical engineering degree from the University of Dayton and an MBA from Ohio State University. His diverse career has encompassed pipeline safety and electric sector initiatives, focusing on safety, system improvement, and public impact.
In recent years, Jim has specialized in developing safety management systems (SMS) to promote risk management and continuous improvement. He emphasizes, “It’s really about changing culture,” highlighting the exciting potential for industry-wide transformation in this role.
As Michael mentioned, we have always focused on providing clients with innovative solutions that support risk reduction and overall safety improvement. Continuing our commitment to safety, ENTRUST has developed an SMS Consulting Team. This team consists of years of industry experience from the operator and regulatory perspective giving our clients historical and new insight into best practices that support sustainable operations.
To #PowerTransformation for our clients, our team members are consistently participating in industry trade organizations and committees to engage and listen to industry needs. Through those activities and direct client engagements, we work to adjust deliverables to meet the needs of our client’s expectations and apply holistic approaches with industry knowledge and best practices to support continuous improvement that enhances safety performance and efficiencies.
The implementation of an SMS provides a structure from which a gas pipeline operator can more effectively manage operations. By implementing a management system that can be leveraged for all aspects of managing a business, including that related to gas pipeline operations, consistent decision-making and accountability are established and reinforced.
While an SMS is focused on reducing risk and improving safety performance, the execution of the system also results in more efficient operations, contributing to greater sustainability.
Our applications start with an emphasis on building the processes around risk management. By doing so the other essential elements are better aligned to meet the expectations of SMS and help our clients enhance processes, procedures, and culture.
We leverage a variety of processes, such as applying LEAN concepts to facilitate the development and implementation of a client’s SMS.
We have been able to successfully apply these engagement techniques at all levels in an organization, from Senior Leaders to front-line employees, resulting in enhancements to culture in addition to exercising the SMS processes.
In addition, we have applied SMS concepts to new requirements, such as Mega-Rule, new technology such as hydrogen, or complementary utility systems such as electric systems, as part of our consulting efforts to reduce risks and continuously improve processes for all our utility industry clients.
Additionally, the SMS framework can be leveraged to improve how an operator manages all facets of their business, developing competence among the management system to manage through the lens of risk and driving greater structure to engage and lead a workforce through continuous improvement.
One key step in our approach is conducting a visioning session with our clients which helps to establish a clear direction for the SMS, including defining goals and objectives that align the entire organization around the implementation. This provides the opportunity for the leadership team to understand the system and ensure that governance is in place during development and through the execution of the SMS within the organization.
Workshops and training sessions are provided for key steps in the implementation process of the SMS to engage with stakeholders and provide practical execution and clear expectations of the SMS element being developed. This helps to ensure the competency of the stakeholders involved before implementation.
Operators who have approached the implementation of SMS with general process roll-out have been left without the intended outcomes compared to those who have provided socialization and awareness training, workshops, and visioning sessions and have received more buy-in and participation from leadership and other organization stakeholders.
By tying SMS into key pipeline safety processes such as continuous improvement efforts, investigation/near-miss communications, and change management, clients have been more successful at ensuring safety management is leveraged for long-term improvements and not just for a short-term project or process.
Through thorough communication with clients, our team of SMEs tailors the deliverable requests and provides a development and implementation plan and schedule that meets the clients’ ability for resourcing and flexibility. In this, we consider innovative solutions as our clients’ SMS matures by applying new technology and predictive analytics to enhance risk reduction and improve safety performance.
Throughout the process, we #PowerTransformation through data analytics, an important tool in gap assessment evaluation, safety assurance, risk management and data gathering, stakeholder engagement, and communication analysis. This helps to report, develop trending analysis to establish positive and negative outcomes, assess the maturity, and identify improvement opportunities.
Critical to an SMS is being able to validate the results from exercising the system and the effectiveness of efforts to mitigate risk. Effective processes and systems that can leverage data analytics to support the effective and efficient implementation of the SMS.
If you want to learn more about how we’re using EN Data Solutions for innovation, check out Courtney Moore and Ellie Lynch’s blog here.
We are actively pursuing more collaboration and networking with the industry to provide a more holistic approach to SMS. Transitioning from development to implementation services will support clients as they drive toward optimization and moving well beyond meeting the requirements of the standard.
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