About...

Hess Engineering Ltd is owned and operated by Mel Hess P.Eng. The company is licensed to practice engineering within the Province of Alberta under APEGGA permit #P11176.

We focus on Engineering for Natural Gas Co-ops (Gas Utility companies), which require engineering services to serve their existing members and provide expansions to accommodate new and future customers. One of the main needs the Co-ops have is to provide flow capacities of the existing system.

Pipelines in a distribution network have many branches and are often looped to two or more supply points. Basic calculations for flow simulation within these networks is not possible. Therefore iterations (more complex calculations) are required to divide the flow through many potential paths.

There are often requirements for an Engineer to stamp and approve construction that will affect other entities, these include crossing other utilities, roads, railways, water courses and public lands.

Pipelines operated at pressures in excess of 700 kPa also require a permit from the ERCB for any modifications or extensions to the systems.

The Canadian Standards Association also require that operators of pipelines, maintain a database of pipeline materials used and the operating conditions for all buried pipelines. We use a database to maintain these records on behalf of clients.

Accurate records called "as-built" need to be updated yearly and submitted to the license authority for pipelines operated below 700 kPa. These are submitted to the Alberta Rural Utilities Branch shortly after each years construction is complete. Paper copies of this information are also carried in the field with workers to maintain and operate the system. Large format printing is required to produce wall maps of a franchise area when the Utility company requests this information.