A Comprehensive Condition Assessment of a High Risk Coastal Force Main: Comox Valley Regional District Case Study

A comprehensive pipeline condition assessment allows utilities to make informed financial decisions, helping prioritize or defer maintenance, and capital spending. When you consider that the pipeline is a force main that services over 45,000 people and incudes a five-kilometer portion installed along the foreshore (intertidal zone) of the Pacific Ocean, a comprehensive pipeline condition assessment can also significantly reduce the risk of a failure with devastating consequences to the surrounding environment. The 750/820-millimeter force main was installed in the early 1980s and is nearly nine-kilometers long, servicing the communities of Courtenay and Comox, British Columbia. A recent risk assessment of a three-kilometer section along highly exposed coastline concluded that it was at high risk of failure, but a condition assessment was required to gain a better understanding on the condition. A rapid inspection plan collecting quantitative data on each pipe section with minimal operational downtime was essential. The resulting information could be used in a risk of failure analysis of the pipeline. The final deliverable from the project discusses the risk analysis of distressed pipes and their repair priorities. The information collected is assisting the CVRD with significant capital decisions and provides an enhanced safeguard against an environmental disaster.