As recently as 2017, the federal Department of Transportation (DOT) estimated 30,000 miles of cast-iron pipe still carried gas in the United States, with the highest percentage of these mains located in older eastern cities such as New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

A plan to replenish a salmon hatchery in remote Oregon required construction of a new access to the Williamette River and removal of an abandoned pipeline full of contaminated water. Ice helped solve the problem.

Over the last two decades, significant advances have been made in the quality and application of inertial navigation technology targeted at mapping underground pipe and duct assets. This article provides information on pipeline technologies that are available to map a minimum internal diameter (ID) of 1.6-inch to larger sizes. The pipeline mapping system offers a range of solutions that can map any pipe, regardless of its material, depth or type of utility.

Underground Construction's exclusive annual survey revealed stronger budgets for many cities and growing expectations for a prolonged, stronger economy – but municipal personnel remain cautious.