Inline inspection represents the most effective way of assessing the condition of buried pipework and is in the early stages of development. It will enable evidence based, targeted excavations that will reduce both the financial and environmental cost of asset management. Integral to any potential inline inspection activity is the physical connection to gain access to buried pipework. Standard connection methods have not changed for a long period of time and there is significant scope to reduce this cost by fundamentally challenging the end to end connection process and exploring new technology that will reduce cost and minimize disruption.

A fundamental challenge to the way connections are planned and constructed will greatly reduce the cost of establishing connections, reducing the cost of performing inline inspections and so further reducing the cost of maintaining these ageing assets.

The objective of the Installation Risk and Technology Assessment Model is to develop the framework for a new low cost connection strategy for inline inspection across the entirety of the NTS installations (circa 200).