ZuHaZu2022 - Condition Asessment and Riskanalysis of Transmission Mains - Water Supply Vienna

Transmission mains of drinking water network are the most important infrastructures of Viennas water supply system. Failure of these lines because of a pipe burst may lead to severe supply interruptions. Pipe bursts on water mains is usually associated with a high level of water outflow and can lead to considerable consequential damage to neighboring infrastructures. Up to now, pipe bursts have rarely occurred on these lines in Vienna. However, their structural condition is largely unknown. Renewal without first examining the condition of the pipes would be uneconomical in many cases. In addition to the possibility of predicting the probability of pipe ruptures with statistical models, it makes sense to use innovative measurement methods to support early damage detection. Numerous suitable procedures have been established in recent years and are planned to be applied to a test sample of pipes in Vienna. Based on the condition assessment and a developed forecast model, pipe sections with the highest risk of failure will be deduced. In addition to assessing the pipe condition and probability of failure, the supply importance of the investigated pipe sections must also be taken into account. In the last step of the condition-based risk analysis it is derived which measures are to be taken in order to reduce the risk. For example, it will be derived where pipes should be renewed, when the renewals will be necessary, whether further condition assessment is required or whether simpler measures such as an additional stock of critical components and a quicker reaction in case of failure events are sufficient to reduce the risk of damage.