CORROSION-RESILIENT UNDERGROUND PIPELINE SYSTEMS IN SAUDI ARABIAN DESERT ENVIRONMENTS: ADVANCED MATERIAL SELECTION, PROTECTIVE DESIGN, AND RISK-BASED INTEGRITY MANAGEMENT

Underground pipelines in Saudi Arabia cross environments that appear uniformly arid but differ sharply in electrolyte availability, salt accumulation, groundwater exposure and electrical interference. This critical review evaluates how those contrasts affect corrosion initiation, protective design and long-term integrity decisions. Recent peer-reviewed evidence published between 2020 and 2025 is synthesised through four linked themes: ground aggressiveness, pipeline material behaviour, coating–cathodic protection compatibility and risk-based asset management. Particular attention is given to saline coastal sabkha deposits, intermittently wetted inland soils, defects beneath disbonded coatings, hydrogen-related damage and the limitations of uniform corrosion-rate assumptions. The synthesis favours coated carbon steel with demonstrably compatible cathodic protection for many transmission applications, while reserving alternative alloys or non metallic systems for explicitly justified service conditions. An integrated decision framework is developed that connects baseline corridor investigation, protective specification, field verification, repeat inspection and uncertainty-informed intervention.