When a 51-year-old water pipeline in Harrisonburg, Virginia, USA, began to suffer from a series of leaks and breaks, two corrosion specialists turned to the fundamentals to find a solution.
Erin Nelson and Ed Richey of Corrpro Companies, Inc., launched a Break Reduction/Life Extension (BRLE) project aimed not only at reducing pipeline breaks but also extending the operational life of this aging infrastructure.
Their approach combined time-tested corrosion control methods with modern, data-driven insights, offering a strategy for municipalities facing similar challenges.
The duo’s strategy integrated soil resistivity data, anode size adjustments, and optimized cathodic protection (CP) system design. In their AMPP conference paper “Break Reduction/Life Extension for Municipal Water Pipelines,” Nelson and Richey delve into the specifics of the project, exploring its potential to transform municipal water pipeline management.
“A lot of times, municipalities don’t see the value in basic data,” says Nelson, an engineer-in-training with certifications in CP2...
