Remote infrared thermal sensing of sewer voids

Gary J. Weil

doi:10.1117/12.209367

12 May 1995 Remote infrared thermal sensing of sewer voids

Gary J. Weil

Proceedings Volume 2454, Nondestructive Evaluation of Aging Utilities; (1995) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.209367
Event: Nondestructive Evaluation of Aging Infrastructure, 1995, Oakland, CA, United States

Abstract

Many sewers in America's cities are more than 125 years old and are subject to structural failure. In one year alone, St. Louis, Missouri had 4,000 sewer collapses that carried an astronomical repair tag. When a sewer caves in, it often takes the street, sidewalks, and surrounding buildings along with it endangering public health and safety. The ideal situation would be to repair a sewer before such cave-ins occur, as emergency repairs are far more costly than preventive measures. The question addressed by this paper is how to detect unseen problem areas in sewer systems before collapses occur. At the present, progressive sewer administrations may use crawl crews or remote controlled video cameras to inspect sewers at suspected problem locations. This can be extremely costly, dangerous, and not very accurate, as a void around the outside of the sewer is often invisible from within. Thus, even a crawl crew can fail to detect most voids. Sewer districts and independent engineering firms have found infrared thermography, a nondestructive testing method, to be extremely accurate in finding sewer voids, and accompanying pipeline leaks, before they can cause expensive and dangerous problems. Infrared thermography is a non-contact, remote sensing method, with the potential for surveying large areas quickly and efficiently.

Citation Download Citation

Gary J. Weil "Remote infrared thermal sensing of sewer voids", Proc. SPIE 2454, Nondestructive Evaluation of Aging Utilities, (12 May 1995); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.209367

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available