12 Steps to Effective in the Ditch NDE

New pipeline integrity regulations for onshore pipelines in North America are now in place from the DOT (Department of Transportation). This has resulted in time critical obligations for operators to ensure compliance. The requirement for operators to “effect discovery” of critical defects has placed greater emphasis on the ability to conduct in-field integrity assessments while the ditch is still open. This paper describes the in the ditch pipeline integrity services philosophy and techniques suggested necessary to comply with regulations. These techniques, in conjunction with In-line Inspection (ILI) findings and integrity evaluation assessments allow optimization of in the ditch defect assessment and repair decisions.