It’s relatively easy to assess the condition of gravity sewer pipes — just run a crawler camera through the line and record the defects.Condition assessment is much harder in pressurized pipes like water lines and sewer force mains: taking these pipes out of service for inspection is highly disruptive, not to mention expensive.Historically, cities and utilities have relied on predictive deterioration modeling to decide when to rehabilitate or replace pressure piping. Here, computer software is used to analyze pipe material and age curves, taking into account other factors such as soil conditions and break history. That method has often proven
