GPRS’ professional pipe inspection services recently helped an airport in Michigan ensure the integrity of its expansive stormwater system.
Project Manager Andy Jurski inspected and mapped roughly 60,000 linear feet of storm lines and related infrastructure at Flint Bishop International Airport (FNT), where officials were looking to gain an understanding of their system’s integrity prior to undertaking planned improvement projects.
“They had never had their lines expected, their storm lines,” Jurski explained. “They wanted to get eyes on their lines as they do have some projects coming up… Some of these lines could be close to 100 years old… [and] they’ve never had eyes inside the pipes.”
The airport had thankfully not experienced any major incidents related to the degradation of their stormwater system, but they had experienced sinkholes in a field near the runway caused by pipes separating and other issues commonly related to aging infrastructure.
“They wanted to [focus] on any line about 18” [in diameter] or bigger,” Jurski said.
GPRS has a comprehensive suite of sewer and stormwater line inspection services – including video pipe inspections (VPI), smoke testing, and dye tracing – to help you gain a comprehensive understanding of the infrastructure below your feet.
Jurski primarily deployed our VPI service at the airport. This inspection service uses industry-leading remote video (CCTV) cameras to assess conditions and prevent problems in water, sanitary and storm sewer, and lateral pipelines. Our NASSCO-certified Project Managers scope your sewers to locate clogs, identify cross bores, find structural defects & damages, and conduct lateral sewer line inspections.
Jurski began his inspection of the airport’s storm system by conducting a site walk. Then, over the next two months, he inspected and mapped the system, providing the airport and the engineering firm it had hired with updated drawings, maps, and video and photographic evidence of all defects within the lines.
“They even had a culvert going underneath a runway that was about 17’ tall by 32’ wide, that we were able to do an inspection with [our] equipment,” he said. “We provided inspection on all 60,000 LF that they were looking at and were able to map and update their drawings. There were several lines that they showed going a certain way that were not there or were capped off, or actually went another way.”
Jurski was also able to inspect and map the buried lines and valves that are part of the airport’s deicing system.
“When they de-ice planes, they’ve got to be able to have that de-icing solution go to deicing holding tanks,” he explained. “The site had that, but you’ve got to make sure the valves are working. We were able to see some of the valves had stuff stuck in them, so they were able to get them cleaned and then we were able to put the camera in there and see the valves were actually functioning as they should be. That way they guarantee the contaminants of the de-icing solution would not go out into creeks and rivers and waterways and contaminate groundwater.”
All the data Jurski collected on site was compiled into a detailed, NASSCO-compliant WinCan report. In this report, all defects and other issues identified within a storm or sewer system are geolocated, ranked by severity, and documented with both photo and video evidence.
“We found a lot of collapsed pipes, and joints separated,” Jurski said. “We didn’t find anything that would mean issues to the integrity, or affect air traffic as it is – thankfully, it’s all stuff that’s off to the sides – but it’s stuff that could be very concerning during normal maintenance on site like mowing the grass, animal control, things like that. We also found where stuff is seeping in. They’ve got encrustations building up on joints, stuff that’s more operational like they need to get the lines cleaned so that way they don’t have to worry about future build-ups on lines that could create like a dam inside there as debris goes down the line.”
Airport personnel and their contractors will be able to view all this data 24/7, from any computer, smartphone or tablet thanks to SiteMap® (patent pending), GPRS’ project & facility management application that provides accurate existing conditions documentation to protect assets and people.
With SiteMap®, critical infrastructure data is accessible and securely shareable, allowing even the largest and most complex facilities and campuses to eliminate the costly and potentially dangerous mistakes caused by miscommunications.
Jurski said that officials at Flint Bishop International Airport recognized the importance of having all their site data in one single source of truth – especially when they learned that their long-time facility manager was going to be retiring and taking his decades of knowledge with him.
“This gentleman had been at this airport for, as we were joking, a lifetime,” Jurski explained. “So, the gentleman that knew where all the utilities were on site is now retired, and they’re going to have to rely on maps instead of calling up this guy and saying, ‘Hey, where’s this line at?’ Now they don’t have that opportunity, but with SiteMap®… with this, they’re able to decipher which lines went to each outfall. So, if there’s an emergency on site, they know where to take and block off a line where they’ll know it won’t get into a creek, river, watersheds, anything like that.”
From storm lines to skyscrapers, GPRS Intelligently Visualizes The Built World® to keep your projects on time, on budget, and safe.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What deliverables does GPRS offer when conducting a video pipe inspection (VPI)?
GPRS is excited to offer WinCan reporting as a valuable resource for our Video Pipe Inspection clients. Effective sewer maintenance begins with a clear understanding of sewer conditions, and WinCan enables GPRS Project Managers to gather detailed, NASSCO-compliant inspection data. Beyond assessing the interior condition of sewer pipes, laterals, and manholes, GPRS Project Managers can also generate precise location maps. Additionally, the GPRS Mapping & Modeling Department provides comprehensive GPS overlays and CAD files. Our thorough WinCan/NASSCO reports include interior pipe condition screenshots and a video file for in-depth evaluation, documentation, or future reference.
What size pipes can GPRS inspect?
Our NASSCO-certified Project Managers can inspect pipes from 2” in diameter and up.
