Advanced Asset Management: Integrated Inspection and Repair Drives Success for PCCP Owners

Proactive asset management of prestressed concrete cylinder pipelines (PCCP) begins with an understanding of system parameters, operational history, design limits, and distress levels. This is especially true when these pipes are subject to environmental or system operating conditions that are different from the original design. When performing a condition assessment for aging PCCP infrastructure, including critical stakeholders such as the repair designer and rehabilitation contractor during the initial inspections can lead to efficiency gains such as shortening the project’s timeline, and lowering overall investment and the ability to address emergent repairs that may be identified without impacts to operational performance. This approach to project procurement and management, known in the industry as investigate-design-build (IDB), has become a best practice for ongoing asset management. This paper provides relevant background on the common failure modes of PCCP and describes an effective asset management program that includes the benefits of an IDB project delivery for periodic and long-term inspection programs. Incorporated in this paper is a case study of an American power generation facility that adopted the IDB approach to manage the first-time condition assessment, risk-based prioritization, and implementation of emergent repairs for a large-diameter PCCP.