Condition Asssessment on Buried Water and District Heating Pipes

The maintenance approach with underground pipes is often reactive and intervention takes often place after the pipe has failed. In the Pipestatus project we will develop methods for condition assessment for pipe inspections to help the pipe owners to be able to increase intervention before a pipe failure. None of the methods require interruption of supply or excavations. Non-dig methods and technical solutions are highly attractive for players both in Sweden and internationally. New solutions have therefore great market potential.

In cooperation between scientists, industry, water- and district heating companies, we are developing and testing five new methods and technical solutions. We will also identify what kind of data that is needed to collect apart from the data coming from the new methods. We will link all the data from the new methods with the data that the pipe owners already have collected and also add external data that is relevant for the state of the pipe, such as groundwater, traffic loads or rainfall. Finally, we will create a data platform where all data is collected and analyzed. The data platform will constitute a new condition assessment service that will visualize for the pipe owners where the weak pipes are located. Two test sites will be established to build up the platform at Kraftringen and at the municipality of Gothenburg, Kretslopp och vatten.

The methods will be combined to work together in order to provide a good foundation for understanding the state of pipe. In the project the methods will be tested, developed and verified through measurements on real piping systems at the participating water- and district heating companies. Parts of the pipes will be excavated and taken out to be sent to the laboratory of SP for analysis and verification.

Engineering Geology, Lund University, are responsible for testing electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) within Pipestatus. Furthermore Capacitive resistivity mapping is tested in collaboration with Université Marie et Pierre Curie, Paris.