In the early eighties and speaking generally, the one internal pipeline inspection was either done by the sewer inspection companies, who does be inspecting mainly dry sewer pipe sections over short distances; typically not exceeding 150m and who stop in the event the pipe became surcharged enough where your camera would become submerged and also the oil industry support companies who would run ‘intelligent pigs’ although oil pipes to guage weld integrity, pipe wall thickness and condition in to assess pipeline longevity and safe operating pressure.

At this time water companies who have been largely oblivious on the internal condition of these pipelines, adits, aqueducts and tunnels were starting to have concerns concerning the integrity of the assets, several of which was constructed in the Victorian times or higher recently in early fifties along never been inspected and were unsuccessfully looking for companies and/or equipment that may accomplish such surveys.

In some cases these were in a position to de-water the pipelines if big enough diameter, they might send a confined space team in to carry out a visual survey; such surveys were obviously fraught with potential dangers, such as of which included the danger of collapse, flooding as well as the accumulation of toxic gasses.

De-watering came with a unique list of potential risks on the structural integrity with the concrete, tunnelled and brick constructed pipelines; most often, small leaks developed by displaced joints, erosion and localised damage etc. enabled the leaking water to identify a path through the ground and also over quite a few years, earth would be beaten up from across the pipe, often causing large water filled voids forming round the outside the pipeline.

The newly de-watered pipeline which would be partially dependent upon the top of water from the pipeline (attempting to push the walls out), to keep up its structural integrity, could suddenly encounter several a great deal of water away from the pipeline (trying to push the walls in), creating localised parts of external questionable, which may often bring about pipe failure and localised collapse, causing subsidence of the ground higher than the pipeline manifesting as holes on your lawn that could appear ‘over-night’.

Around this time there were a growing demand from the Water Companies to transmit divers up water filled pipes with CCTV cameras, to survey as far for their nerve or umbilical length would permit.

In a very short period of time the HSE Diving Executive, showed an curiosity about the security aspect of sticking divers up pipes and before long an excursion array of around 30m like a maximum was considered safe, providing that the mandatory safety measures were in position.

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