Enhancing Drainage Facility Inspections: How PennDOT District 8 is Leveraging Innovative Camera Technology

PennDOT Engineering District 8 has taken their drainage facility inspection program to a new level thanks to an innovative camera system that gives district staff the ability to view and inspect previously inaccessible or hard-to-reach areas. 

The Envirosight Quickview® Pole Camera was acquired through an innovation funding program the district applied for in 2023. 

“We were doing a lot of pipe and drainage inspections and found many of them were inaccessible due to confined spaces or other accessibility issues,” said District Highway Maintenance Coordinator Tyler Stumpf.  

The system consists of a powerful camera attached to a telescopic pole that can extend to depths of about 19 feet. The camera connects wirelessly to a touchscreen tablet that allows the operator to view pipes six inches or larger up to 400 feet in a straight horizontal or vertical alignment.  

The camera produces high-resolution photos and videos that can be saved and referenced by the county maintenance organizations. It is equipped with a laser rangefinder that pinpoints a problem area, thus taking the guesswork out of finding the location.   

According to Stumpf, the system, including the rangefinder and one-year maintenance plan, costs around $18,500. However, it saves money by reducing the need for traffic control setups, by allowing issues with drainage facilities to be detected and addressed before they fail, and by providing county maintenance organizations with a useful tool for pipe replacement planning.  

More importantly, the system increases safety by eliminating the need for staff to access confined spaces. 

“Safety is number one,” Stumpf said. “Nobody has to enter a confined space area.” 

The camera system has been deployed in all eight of the district’s counties – Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Lancaster, Lebanon, Perry and York. It has been used for a variety of reasons, including detecting the source of a sinkhole, investigating damage to pipes caused by utility contractors, performing before-and-after surveys of pipes on detour routes on local roads, and surveying pipes for project design. 

“This system has been very helpful,” Stumpf said. “It has enabled the district to inspect pipes and culverts that had previously been difficult or impossible to access.”