Interpretation of pipe networks by magnetic sensing

The imaging and sizing of buried pipes in soil or steel rods in concrete has wide utility. The accurate detection of embedded reinforcement is useful to enforce the correct placement of steel in new concrete, and is even more important in assessing as-built structures. Rebar mapping is essential in post-construction operations such as coring and anchor emplacement in nuclear power plants. Pipe mapping is invaluable to the excavation and repair of utility distribution systems. This paper identifies some limitations of conventional manual methods of detecting and sizing buried ferrous cylinders. The body of the paper presents an alternate, automated methodology that rationalizes and enhances the mapping process. The methodology integrates automated scanning, image processing and image understanding techniques to characterize buried steel from sensor data