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Title:
Evaluation of SSET: The Sewer Scanner & Evaluation Technology
CERF Report #40551 - Civil Engineering and Research Foundation (CERF), Washington, D.C.
This report can be downloaded from CERF website .
Date:
 March 2001
119p
Abstract:
 The summary of responses to the Statement of Need (SON) focuses on general-purpose pipe and cable locators rather than equipment that is used to detect faults in operating systems (e.g., leak detectors for gas lines, insulation damage or faults in electric cables, etc.). The report is not comprehensive since it relies mainly on the responses to the Statement of Need. Also, many commercially available systems are not discussed since the emphasis in this report is on directions for the next generation of utility locating systems rather than existing systems.

The trends for future development and the possibility of developing systems that fully meet the criteria set forth in the SON are discussed as a series of responses to the following questions.
  • Were any relevant technologies uncovered that were not currently being applied to the utility locating problem?
  • Is there a system under current development that will be capable of locating urban utilities as desired in the SON (e.g., multiple and close-spaced utilities beneath urban streets, all types of utilities, conducting and nonconducting, in all types of soil conditions)?
  • Is there a system under development that will make it easy to locate plastic pipe?
  • Is the current level of technology development mature?
  • Can new utility locating technologies be cost-effective?
  • What directions appear to offer the greatest long-term potential for improvements in the utility location problem?
  • What are some of the advances that are anticipated in the processing and display of data?
  • What steps are needed to continue the advancement of utility locating equipment?
  • What else is needed in the industry to lower utility damage?
  • What is planned as a continuation of this project?
In short, all relevant technology developers had already identified utility location as a potential market, and there is no technology that has adequately demonstrated the potential to solve the problems outlined in the SON. However, the technology development is far from mature, and several ideas with significant promise could not be adequately researched regarding their potential effectiveness within the scope of this summary report.

To follow up on this report, the Federal Laboratory Consortium and the Technology Transfer
Information Center plan to invite companies with promising technologies to participate in controlled field trials to establish/confirm the accuracy and range of applicability of the methods. These field trials will be followed by discussion sessions among the various stakeholder groups for better utility location.

These sessions will be focused on establishing partnerships to help develop, commercialize, and spread the technologies.