Condition inspections at Multiple Dams

Hibbard Inshore was contracted to perform deep water inspections at 5 separate dams in the same region for a single owner over the course of 7 days. Hibbard used one of their Navajo (Link) swimming remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) with lights, dual sonar units and video cameras for the inspections. The inspections covered gate guides, trash racks, intakes, head gates, seal plates, roller plates, several valve operators, and the upstream face of two of the larger dams. The ROV was able to image these structures on both video and sonar with the latter helping to speed the face of dam inspections by scanning the entire face quickly so that visual confirmation could be performed only in areas of interest identified by the sonar.

Following the completion of the inspection, all video inspection data and pilot notes were compiled into reports and delivered to client. The client then uses the data to form preventative maintenance plans, identify more immediate concerns, and to achieve regulatory compliance.

The primary advantages of the way these inspections were performed is that because Hibbard Inshore could provide several different equipment setups and techniques allowing for all of the various types of deep water inspection to be addressed at once, the customer could rely on them to complete, during a single mobilization, all of the services that they could not complete with their in-house equipment. This customer has created an Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity contract with Hibbard Inshore which allows them to schedule multiple inspections at standardized pricing. This allows them to group inspections together across their organization while still allocating costs to individual assets, and it allows several facilities to share in mobilization costs reducing the overall cost of inspection as a group.