Numbers Don't Lie: PCCP Performance and Deterioration Based on a Statistical Review of a Decade of Condition Assessment Data

Since the late 1990s there have been numerous inspection and monitoring projects focused on identifying and quantifying wire break damage in PCCP water and wastewater pressure mains. The pressing need to identify and manage deterioration of PCCP has resulted in the rapid development of a small but highly focused niche industry of condition assessment of PCCP mains. During this time, there have been various theories and postulations regarding the performance and deterioration of PCCP mains. This paper statistically reviews data from more than 500 miles of electromagnetic inspection and acoustic monitoring that have been performed since 2001 to develop scientifically based conclusions on a variety of topic areas regarding the performance and deterioration of PCCP mains. Topic areas include: 1. The mean for percent of damaged pipe sections (percent of damage) are reported. The industry has many views on the performance of PCCP. This paper reports the percent of damage by reviewing the total number of PCCP sections inspected and those that were reported as having wire break damage. 2.The percent of damage is further evaluated by the year of manufacture binned according to the various AWWA C301 and C304 versions. This includes an analysis of what is the mean percent of damage for pipe manufactured with Class IV prestressing wire. 3. Percent of damage is also compared between embedded cylinder or lined cylinder pipe to determine if one type of design has an improved performance. 4. Percent of damage is also compared for water (including raw water) vs. wastewater mains.