Phased approach to water pipeline condition assessment

Buried pipelines often operate in a state of anonymity with respect to internal or external corrosion. A condition assessment project allows a condition profile of the pipe to be developed through an examination and/or evaluation of the external and internal environment using various technology applications. External environments provide the typical culprits that promote water pipe corrosion and condition assessments provide useful information to determine pipe condition for renewal or monitoring decisions and future asset planning.

To avoid applying costly inspection technologies to long lengths of pipe, condition assessment could use a phased approach to focus on the segments of pipe with the highest potential for corrosion, so that the less disruptive methods are applied along the entire pipe alignment and more disruptive and expensive technologies are applied to only short segments of pipe. To identify locations where corrosion may be occurring, strategic phases are suggested: Phase 1 – Desktop Study, Phase 2 – Soil Corrosivity Assessment, Phase 3 – External Assessment, Phase 4 – Direct Assessment, Phase 5 – Structural Assessment