Impacts of Energy Developments on the Texas Transportation System Infrastructure
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Impacts of Energy Developments on the Texas Transportation System Infrastructure Jolanda Prozzi Sergey Grebenschikov Ambarish Banerjee Jorge Prozzi CTR Technical Report: 0-6513-1A Report Date: October 2011 Project: 0-6513 Project Title: Impacts of Energy Developments on the Texas Transportation System Sponsoring Agency: Texas Department of Transportation Performing Agency: Center for Transportation Research at The University of Texas at Austin Project performed in cooperation with the Texas Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration. Center for Transportation Research The University of Texas at Austin 1616 Guadalupe Street, Suite 4.202 Austin, TX 78701 www.utexas.edu/research/ctr Copyright (c) 2011 Center for Transportation Research The University of Texas at Austin All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Disclaimers Author's Disclaimer: The contents of this report reflect the views of the authors, who are responsible for the facts and the accuracy of the data presented herein. The contents do not necessarily reflect the official view or policies of the Federal Highway Administration or the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). This report does not constitute a standard, specification, or regulation. Patent Disclaimer: There was no invention or discovery conceived or first actually reduced to practice in the course of or under this contract, including any art, method, process, machine manufacture, design or composition of matter, or any new useful improvement thereof, or any variety of plant, which is or may be patentable under the patent laws of the United States of America or any foreign country. Engineering Disclaimer NOT INTENDED FOR CONSTRUCTION, BIDDING, OR PERMIT PURPOSES. Research Supervisor: Jolanda Prozzi viii Acknowledgments The authors express appreciation to the TxDOT Project Director Dr. Duncan Stewart and members of the Project Monitoring Committee for their support and direction during the course of this project. ix Table of Contents Chapter 1. Introduction................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Texas’s Energy Sector: An Overview ...................................................................................2 1.1.1 Oil Production in Texas ................................................................................................. 3 1.1.2 Natural Gas Development in Texas ............................................................................... 7 1.1.3 Coal Energy in Texas ................................................................................................... 15 1.1.4 Wind Development in Texas ....................................................................................... 17 1.1.5 Bio-Fuel Production in Texas ...................................................................................... 20 1.1.6 Biomass Energy Generation ........................................................................................ 24 1.1.7 Geothermal Energy in Texas ....................................................................................... 26 1.1.8 Solar Energy Development in Texas ........................................................................... 29 1.2 Concluding Remarks ............................................................................................................31 Chapter 2. Energy Supply Chains for Texas ............................................................................ 33 2.1 Energy Supply Chain for Natural Gas .................................................................................33 2.1.1 Developing a Supply Chain for Natural Gas ............................................................... 33 2.2 Energy Supply Chain for Oil ...............................................................................................46 2.2.1 Developing a Supply Chain for Oil ............................................................................. 48 2.3 Coal Energy Supply Chain ..................................................................................................67 2.3.1 In-State Coal Production .............................................................................................. 69 2.3.2 Out-of-State Coal Production ...................................................................................... 72 2.3.3 Developing an Energy Supply Chain for Coal............................................................. 73 2.4 Developing a Wind Energy Supply Chain ...........................................................................76 2.4.1 Site Preparation, Windmill Foundation, and Cable Installation .................................. 77 2.5 Bio-Fuel Energy Supply Chain ............................................................................................90 2.5.1 Developing a Supply Chain for Ethanol ...................................................................... 92 2.6 Concluding Remarks ..........................................................................................................100 Chapter 3. Impact on Texas’s Road Infrastructure .............................................................. 101 3.1 Traffic Impacts Considered ...............................................................................................101 3.1.1 Wind Energy Industry ................................................................................................ 101 3.1.2 Natural Gas Industry .................................................................................................. 101 3.1.3 Crude Oil Industry ..................................................................................................... 102 3.2 Methodology ......................................................................................................................102 3.2.1 Distresses ................................................................................................................... 102 3.2.2 Transfer Functions in MEPDG .................................................................................. 103 3.2.3 Reductions in Service Life ......................................................................................... 105 3.3 Data Inputs .........................................................................................................................106 3.3.1 Structural Design ....................................................................................................... 107 3.3.2 Material Design .......................................................................................................... 107 3.3.3 Climatic Information .................................................................................................. 108 3.3.4 Traffic Information .................................................................................................... 108 3.3.5 Selection of Pavement Sections ................................................................................. 114 3.4 Analysis Results .................................................................................................................115 3.4.1 Wind Energy Industry ................................................................................................ 115 x 3.4.2 Natural Gas Sector (Barnett Shale Play) .................................................................... 121 3.4.3 Crude Oil Sector (Permian Basin) ............................................................................. 127 3.5 Concluding Remarks ..........................................................................................................131 Chapter 4. Concluding Remarks ............................................................................................. 133 4.1 Impact of the Wind Energy Industry .................................................................................133 4.2 Impact of the Natural Gas Industry (Barnett Shale Play) ..................................................134 4.3 Impact of the Crude Oil Industry (Permian Basin) ............................................................135 4.4 Concluding Remarks ..........................................................................................................136 References .................................................................................................................................. 137 Appendix A1: GPS Coordinates of Pavement Sections ......................................................... 145 Appendix A2: Pavement Damage Estimates due to Wind, Natural Gas, and Crude Oil Energy Developments ......................................................................................................... 149 Additional Damage Imposed due to the Movement of the Wind Turbine Components .........149 Additional Damage Imposed by the Natural Gas Development in the Barnett Shale Region ..........................................................................................................................155 Additional Damage Imposed by the Crude Oil Industry Operating in the Permian Basin Region ..........................................................................................................................179 Appendix A3: Reduction in Service Lives of Pavements due to Wind, Natural Gas, and Crude Oil Energy Developments ..................................................................................... 197 Wind Energy Industry ..............................................................................................................197