A Comprehensive Approach to Large Diameter Pipeline Assessment (WWETT Show 2023)

Buried infrastructure that is exposed to atmospheric elements and water are often faced with various structural and maintenance problems. The structural aspects that can affect the pipeline can range from corrosion issues to ovality whereas maintenance issues can hinder an asset's fundamental hydraulics. These adverse effects to the pipeline typically correlate to the material and the environment the asset is in. Utility owners are often faced with the difficult task of predicting when these problems will occur and how to accurately prioritize work on large diameter pipelines.  In this session we will present two projects which used advanced inspection methods to obtain structural and debris data analysis over a given time period. The methods used included multi-sensor inspections operating LiDAR, Sonar, CCTV and gas collection. These projects allowed the agencies to predict pipeline failures and further develop rehabilitation schedules based on the degradation that was seen over various years of inspection and analysis. Options will be provided to owners looking to monitor and evaluate critical assets and the advantages and disadvantages that come with such inspections along with the cost benefits and risks incurred.

Learning Objectives:

1. Address the effectiveness of various methods of advanced inspection methods in large diameter assets   

2. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various methods such as CCTV, sonar, Laser/Lidar and more    

3. Analyze the costs that impact large diameter pipeline inspections   

4. Review the overall benefits of obtaining quality data on critical infrastructure in order to predict and prevent failures.

Speaker: Veronica Alvarez, Southwest Regional Manager at RedZone Robotics