Pipeline Inspection

In the early eighties and speaking typically, the only internal pipeline inspection was either carried out by the sewer inspection businesses, who will be inspecting primarily dry sewer pipe（Underground Sewer Pipe） sections more than brief distances; generally not exceeding 150m and who would quit when the pipe became surcharged for the point where the camera would turn into submerged along with the oil business assistance companies who would run 'intelligent pigs' though the oil pipes to assess weld integrity, pipe wall thickness and condition to be able to assess pipeline longevity and secure operating stress.

At this time the water organizations who were largely oblivious to the internal situation of their pipelines, adits, aqueducts and tunnels have been beginning to possess concerns concerning the integrity of their assets, many of which had been constructed during the Victorian era or much more lately inside the early fifties and had never ever been inspected and had been unsuccessfully attempting to locate firms and/or gear that could carry out such surveys.

In some circumstances they were capable to de-water the pipelines（Water Supply Pipes） and if massive enough diameter, they would send a confined space group in to carry out a visual survey; such surveys have been certainly fraught with potential dangers, not least of which included the danger of collapse, flooding and also the accumulation of toxic gasses.

De-watering came with its personal set of prospective risks towards the structural integrity in the concrete, tunnelled and brick constructed pipelines; in numerous situations, small leaks produced by displaced joints, erosion and localised damage etc. enabled the leaking water to seek out a path through the ground and more than several years, earth could be washed out from around the pipe, often resulting in huge water filled voids forming about the outdoors in the pipeline.

The newly de-watered pipeline which would frequently be partially reliant around the head of water within the pipeline (looking to push the walls out), to keep its structural integrity, could all of a sudden be subjected to numerous tons of water outside in the pipeline (trying to push the walls in), generating localised locations of external high pressure, which would often cause pipe failure and localised collapse, causing subsidence from the ground above the pipeline manifesting as holes within the ground that would seem 'over-night'.

At around this time there was an escalating demand from the Water Organizations to send divers up water filled pipes（Tap Water Pipe） armed with CCTV cameras, to survey for as far as their nerve or umbilical length would permit.

Within an incredibly short period of time the HSE Diving Executive, showed a keen interest within the safety aspect of sticking divers up pipes and ahead of extended an excursion array of around 30m as a maximum was considered secure, delivering that all of the essential safety precautions were in spot.