SCADA Construction Challenges in a Desert Environment

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Successful construction projects require experience in management, design, and overall execution. All construction projects have a detailed set of objectives and restrictions that can impact the completion of a project within the projected time frame. While planning presents its own set of challenges, execution during the construction phase is the most critical aspect of any project.

This article highlights some of the challenges experienced in implementing a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system in a desert environment. Some of the challenges of this large project were expected, while others were seen only during the start-up. Project managers need to be rigid in their project execution skills, but flexible enough to allow for creative thinking when problems arise. However, even the best of plans can be overwhelmed with real-world problems, requiring that a strong project manager come up with creative ideas for restructuring the plan quickly and efficiently.

Design

The challenge for the communication project division (CPD) team was to design and implement a communication infrastructure for an area of approximately 100 square miles in the Saudi Arabian desert that was required to be functional and compatible with the SCADA system. The system, as designed, was to provide data, voice, and video in real-time from all oil and water wells.

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