MESABI RANGE IRON ORE TRANSPORTATION--FEASIBILITY AND ESTIMATING COST OF PIPELINING

This Bureau of Mines publication considers the feasibility of augmenting the present transportation system by pipelining taconite concentrates from the Mesabi Range to the Chicago area. The cost of pipelining in the hypothetical system using water as the carrier is estimated to be between $3.66 and $2.97 per long ton. This appears competitive with the 1970 rail-vessel transportation rate of $4.08 even after allowing a few cents per ton for barging from the terminal to existing furnaces. Political obstacles requiring solution before such a pipeline could be built and the feasibility of using crude oil as the carrier fluid are also discussed. FORTRAN routines used to calculate unit transportation cost for specific estimated values of cost items and for a range of values are presented. The effect of deviations from estimated values of cost items on the total unit transportation cost are shown graphically.

• Corporate Authors:

  Bureau of Mines

  C Street Between 18th and 19th Streets, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20241
• Authors:
  • Polta, H J
• Publication Date: 1971

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; References;
• Pagination: 46 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Construction; Materials management; Pipelines; Slurry; Structural design
• Old TRIS Terms: Pipeline construction; Pipeline design; Slurries; Slurry handling techniques
• Subject Areas: Construction; Freight Transportation; Marine Transportation; Pipelines; Terminals and Facilities;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00054872
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Department of the Interior
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 15 1974 12:00AM