Development of Manhole and Catch Basin Inlet Condition Assessment Criteria for the City of Pittsburgh's Collection System

The Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority (PWSA) owns, operates and maintains a wastewater collection system consisting of approximately 1,234 miles of sewer, 28,500 manholes and nearly 24,500 storm inlets distributed across 58 square miles of service area within the City of Pittsburgh as illustrated in Figure 1. Over 73 percent of the City of Pittsburgh is served by combined sewers.Similar to circumstances faced by other major cities where the demands of aging wastewater collection system infrastructure compete for limited resources, PWSA has recognized the need to better understand the structural and operational condition of its collection system assets. More refined information regarding the quantity, location and condition of its assets will allow PWSA to prioritize its long-term capital planning efforts and focus its day-to-day operation/maintenance activities towards those collection system elements requiring the most attention.Launched in 2006, PWSA began its largest and most comprehensive effort ever to assess the structural and operational condition of its collection system manholes, pipes and catch basins. Before any field programs were initiated, however, extensive planning was necessary to:design and implement asset management software that would serve as the long-term tool to manage data regarding the collection system assets and their condition;develop field data collection tools to facilitate collection of field data efficiently; and,set standards and criteria for characterizing collection system assets and their condition that would facilitate PWSA's goals.Although this paper briefly summarizes PWSA's approach to asset management and field data collection here, the primary focus of this paper centers on the importance of PWSA's approach to developing and implementing standards and criteria for characterizing catch basin and manhole assets…and their condition…to enable effective management of the collection system assets into the future.