Sound Decisions: Leveraging Ultrasonic Technology for Pipeline Inspections in the City of Grapevine

As its 40-year-old raw water line nears the end of its design life, the City of Grapevine determined that an inspection of this 20-in. bar-wrapped pipeline (BWP) was necessary. When presented with the opportunity to utilize a new in-line inspection platform with ultrasonic testing capabilities to inspect its raw water line, the City re-evaluated its existing selection and decided to take the leap toward cutting-edge ultrasonic technology (UT). CPM Pipelines, in collaboration with Acquaint, carried out this first-of-its-kind inspection in North America, identifying numerous observations, including offset joints, displaced joints, air pockets, missing concrete, and various other anomalies. Since repairing these small sections of pipe would require extensive shutdown time and no other condition or operational issues have been previously reported, Freese and Nichols (FNI) recommended the City reinspect the pipeline in 5–10 years as the pipeline approaches the end of its 50-year design life.