PICA partnered with a mid-west city in February 2023 to conduct an inspection of 4.8 miles of 54-inch embedded cylinder PCCP and 1.9 miles of lined cylinder PCCP. Near Field Testing (NFT) for wire breaks was conducted on both pipelines. Remote Field Testing (RFT) was also conducted on portions of the 54- inch pipeline with thicker cylinder and along the entire length of the 48-inch pipeline.

RFT is proving to produce a valuable data set that complements and validates the NFT wire break findings. When NFT data is analyzed on site while the pipeline is out of service, RFT can be surgically deployed in areas of interest to produce a more complete and comprehensive picture of the condition of the critical water transmission mains.