GPRS helped eliminate surprises for a longtime client looking to remodel a distribution warehouse.
GPRS Project Manager David Castro utilized our Video Pipe Inspection service to inspect and map the interior sewer system for the 100,000-square-foot facility in Northern California. GPRS then conducted 3D laser scans of the warehouse with a Matterport Pro 3 scanner, to create a detailed CAD drawing, 3D model, and virtual tour of the building for planning and design purposes.
Castro explained that this client regularly purchases and renovates facilities like this one, and they utilize GPRS’ comprehensive suite of infrastructure visualization services to show them what they can’t see and eliminate surprises, allowing them to stay on time, on budget, and safe while remodeling their properties.
“[With VPI,] we’ll get the condition of the pipes, we’ll map out the layout for them just so they have all that information for their design purposes,” Castro said. “They just want to know what they’re walking into, so they don’t walk into any unexpected expenses or problems.”
How Does VPI Work?
Video Pipe Inspections are at the core of GPRS’ industry-leading sewer locating services, which also include smoke testing and dye tracing.
During a VPI, our NASSCO-certified Project Managers inspect your sewer or stormwater system using remote-controlled crawlers and push-fed sewer scopes that are equipped with CCTV cameras and sondes: instrument probes that allow us to track their location from the surface using electromagnetic (EM) locators.
With this technology, our Project Managers can inspect and map your sewer systems at the same time, and provide you with a detailed, NASSCO-compliant WinCan report that lists all identified defects – geolocated and ranked by severity – and provides photo and video evidence of our findings.
VPIs allow GPRS clients to identify problems within their sewer systems such as cross bores, clogs, and inflow/infiltration, and then expedites repairs to these issues by providing accurate data on where the defect is located and its severity.
What is Matterport?
The Matterport Pro 3 scanner allows our Project Managers to scan indoor and outdoor static environments and produces a full-color digital twin at a 10m range within 20mm accuracy.
With this 3D laser scanner, GPRS’ in-house Mapping & Modeling Team can create point clouds, 3D models, virtual tours, and 4K HDR photos. GPRS uses this tool to provide accurate as-built visualizations of a project site, incorporating utility locating, concrete scanning, VPI, and leak detection services for a complete solution.
What We Found at the Distribution Warehouse
Castro’s inspection of the distribution warehouse’s sewer system revealed that some debris had seemed to have been intentionally shoved into some of the building’s cleanouts, but otherwise found no other issues.
“For the most part, the sewer system was actually fairly new, and it looked to be in good condition,” he said.
But this was an exception to the rule.
“Most of the time when we do these jobs for new building owners, they always have a story of ‘Hey man, we just bought this other property on the other side of town, and maybe a month after we bought it, we had all these backup issues with the sewer,’” Castro said. “So, that’s exactly why we do this. It’s just so that they have an idea of what the existing condition looks like and if they need to be concerned about anything, if they need to plan for replacements or repairs or anything like that.”
Both the sewer inspection data, and the CAD drawing, 3D model, and WalkThru 3D virtual tour created with the Matterport data will help our client with their planned renovations to the warehouse, including the addition of new bathrooms.
“Obviously with that project, they kind of need to know where the existing mainline is running through the building and then the depth,” Castro said. “So that way, they know what elevations they need to hit and all of that. Without us being there, they would have no idea where the sewer system is, or where to tie in. Their engineers would have no idea how to draw that plan up to get it to spec.”
From sewer lines to skyscrapers, GPRS Intelligently Visualizes The Built World® to keep your projects on time, on budget, and safe.
What can we help you visualize?
Frequently Asked Questions
What size sewer pipes can GPRS inspect?
Our NASSCO-certified Project Managers can inspect pipes from 2” in diameter and up.
What deliverables does GPRS offer our sewer pipe inspection clients?
GPRS is proud to offer WinCan reporting to our Video Pipe Inspection clients. Maintaining sewers starts with understanding sewer condition, and WinCan allows GPRS Project Managers to collect detailed, NASSCO-compliant inspection data. GPRS Project Managers not only inspect the interior condition of sewer pipes, laterals, and manholes – they can also provide a map of their location. The GPRS Mapping & Modeling Department can provide detailed GPS overlays and CAD files. Our detailed WinCan/NASSCO reports contain screenshots of the interior condition of the pipe segments that we inspect, as well as a video file for further evaluation, documentation, and/or reference.
What is a digital twin?
A digital twin is highly complex virtual model that is the exact counterpart (or twin) of a physical object. GPRS uses 3D laser scanners to collect real-time data for a building or facility and create a digital duplicate. Data can be easily visualized, measured and analyzed. Digital twins can be used to improve efficiencies, optimize workflows and detect problems before they occur.
