Science,Engineering and Economics: OR at the Interface

Engineers designing submarine oil-pipeline systems for the Beaufort Sea need to know how deep to bury them. Scientists studying ice scour have a major input into this decision; so do the economics of burying and pipeline failures. An operational researcher was asked to examine the way these aspects can be treated and the way they can be fitted together. This paper describes the resulting study, to illustrate how operational research might help in other interfacing contexts.