Effects of soil properties on corrosion of buried steel pipeline: A case study of rand water pipeline, South Africa

Pipeline corrosion is a worldly recognized problem and has been a major concern for owners of pipeline in the past decades. Previous researches have established factors that influence the corrosion of buried pipelines in soil environment. In this work, we focus on analyzing some soil properties such as moisture content, soil pH, plasticity index, soil organic content, soil resistivity, and percentage composition of soil corrosive elements, as it affects underground pipeline. The pipeline of interest is a steel pipeline conveying water and was buried 1m beneath the soil surface. Soil samples were taken around this pipeline at four different sites; mine damp area, vicinity of power lines, an open field of clay soil, and vicinity of a railway line. These soil samples were taken to the laboratory for test and analysis. The results obtained showed that the soil samples from the mine damp area and railway line area are very corrosive to the pipeline while soil sample from the clay soil area is less corrosive. The result of these parameters also showed that soil sample from the power line area is not corrosive to the pipe. Hence, the pipeline which was exposed to soil in the mine damp area and railway line area need to be properly protected to avoid corrosion damage to the pipe.