The Norman Wells pipeline is North America's first totally underground pipeline to be built in discontinuous permafrost.

Owned and operated by Enbridge, the 870- kilometre (540-mile) crude oil pipeline links the oilfields of Norman Wells, Northwest Territories to the Rainbow Pipeline system at Zama, Alberta and is designed to carry up to 4,800 cubic metres (30,000 barrels) each day. The route includes no less than 140 water crossings, two major rivers (the Great Bear and Mackenzie) and 150 significant slopes. Among the challenges of design and construction were problems related to unstable soils and the threat that settlement of the terrain could affect the integrity of the pipeline. To ensure pipe movement remains within the design limit, Enbridge has developed a rigorous monitoring and surveillance program that has become the benchmark for researchers, regulatory agencies and the northern pipeline industry.

In 2004, the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut awarded its Professional Award of Merit for Engineering to Enbridge for our Norman Wells pipeline system. The award recognizes the complexity of the project and its excellent record of EH&S performance.

"The award speaks not only to Enbridge's expertise in the design and construction of northern pipelines, but also to its ongoing record of safe and environmentally responsible operation," says Ann Marie Tout, Manager, Northern Region, Enbridge Pipelines (NW).