Trunk Sewer Inspection

Trunk sewers have been historically neglected because of the belief that they are inaccessible. Many of the trunk sewers are now reaching their design life and are experiencing problems and we as a society can no longer afford to not address the issues within them. In fact, of all the infrastructure types, the trunk sewers are one of the most critical - their failure will result in catastrophic consequences for everyone. Fortunately there are now techniques available to enable us to inspect, clean and repair trunk sewers. Inspecting trunk sewers requires advanced technology that can withstand the hostile environment and a contractor with a high skill level in complicated confined space entry - this is not an area where an infrastructure owner should overlook experience in lieu of a lower cost.

One of the unique systems available to us is the RedZone Responder Robot - this is the only piece of equipment in the world today that can permit inspection of trunk sewers even under the most demanding of circumstances. We recently completed an inspection of a 10 foot diameter trunk sewer, with flows over 6,000 l/s, down deep almost 50m below ground. We inspected the sewer both with and against the flow from a distance over over 1 mile from the nearest manhole. We can directly attest that this is the piece of equipment you want on the job site when the work is difficult, or almost impossible.

The 250 kg Robot has a 2,000m virtually unbreakable tether, with an embedded fiber optic core for transmitting the vast amount of data it collects. This data includes standard high resolution video, high resolution V360 imaging, Sonar, H2S gas concentration, 3D Laser, line and grade, and water depth. Custom reports are generated that can show the exact amount of pipe deterioration, ASTM Ovality, and quantity of debris in the sewer along with graphs that display all the data collected in a synchronized payout. All the top engineering firms come to us when they have a job requiring them to put their reputation on the line and make judgments on the condition of the pipe and what rehabilitation work is necessary to optimize the trunk sewers lifespan. Other technologies can sometimes collect video or maybe sonar, but they fall short of the Robot when a complete picture is required. Given the difficulty in accessing the trunk sewers in the first place it makes sense to do the job right and collect as much data as possible. Skimping and selecting inferior technology to save a little money when it comes to selecting a technology to inspect critical trunk sewers is probably not the wisest way to go. We know - we get the calls after infrastructure owners or consultants have tried other techniques and have had to fish them out of the downstream pumping stations.

DMR partners with RedZone Robotics (the makers of the Robot that inspected the Chernobyl nuclear reactors) to provide this service exclusively and directly to our clients. RedZone has a wonderful website and offers many other types of unique robotic equipment and it's worth a click to surf on over to their website.