Focused Condition Assessment of Critical Infrastructure Supports Long-Term Planning

Faced with a Consent Order driven SSES Program, the City of Virginia Beach has developed a condition assessment program for its 190 miles of sewer force mains. After defining the most critical inventory based on an evaluation of probability and consequence of failure, the City established an approach for the 26 miles of force main selected that uses a combination of traditional and innovative technologies to establish apparent condition. The data generated are used to provide a more accurate understanding of the entire force main infrastructure and to provide the basis of a long-term management plan that includes operations, inspections, rehabilitation, and/or replacement.The purpose of this paper is to outline the program that the City of Virginia Beach has developed and implemented. It will discuss the benefits and limitations of the condition assessment technologies that were utilized, how the data was used to provide valuable insight into the state of their infrastructure, and how it will support the development of a long-term investment profile.The force mains being assessed are relatively small diameter, and of short lengths so although they may not appear to be a significant issue when compared to larger inventories, they are critical to the City and can provide valuable insight to the many organizations across the US with similar infrastructure.