P35.001: Inspection and Assessment
Objective
Robust inspection and assessment techniques and tools are essential to maintain a safe, efficient, and reliable transmission system. The objectives of this project are to provide guidance for the inspection and assessment of overhead transmission assets, provide opportunities for utilities to share best practices and lessons learned in asset inspection and assessment, and determine the effectiveness of new and emerging inspection technologies. This research project is applicable to all stakeholders involved in the inspection, assessment, and maintenance of transmission line assets.
This project aims to provide:
- Laboratory and field evaluations of new and emerging inspection and sensing technologies.
- A comprehensive reference guide that provides advanced resources on inspection and assessment methods and technology that is sufficient for the daily needs of both experienced and novice asset managers, inspection personnel, and other maintenance stakeholders.
- Development of field-deployable guides for field inspectors and those engaged in developing inspection and assessment programs. These make information readily available using a variety of devices, leading the way for interactive techniques to improve understanding.
- Multi-format training resources for training inspection and maintenance personnel through e-learning software, presentations, video streaming, conferences, and workshops encompassing both classroom and field training.
- Software tools that include new and emerging inspection and sensing technologies, information, field case studies, and results from EPRI testing and evaluation.
Research Value
By identifying knowledge gaps and potential technologies, future research and development needs can be addressed. This research project can improve operations and benefit the public by:
- Improving the effectiveness of the inspection and assessment process
- Providing a sound technical basis for decision making
- Helping assess and manage risks associated with the condition of overhead transmission line components
- Maintaining or lowering life-cycle costs and helping keep electric rates affordable
- Improving worker and public safety by helping detect components with a high risk of failure before they fail
Planned 2025 Research
This project intends to develop reference and training materials and evaluate the inspection and assessment tools and techniques to help utility workers maintain a safe, efficient, and reliable overhead transmission system. Inspection and Assessment Reference Guide: Utilities are investigating new ways and technologies to optimize inspections that can lead to more effective action planning. As such, best practices of the past may no longer apply. In 2025, EPRI intends to identify and update inspection best practices to match recent research and technology developments.
Field Guides: EPRI’s field guides give personnel access to in-service inspection guidance for dozens of transmission line components, with the convenience of remote access. As transmission line research advances, the knowledge related to inspection and assessment of various assets is identified and developed into a mobile field guide that provides a media-rich transfer of information that includes the asset condition and actions to take. In 2025, EPRI intends to update the media content and update conditions assessment to reflect the most recent learnings and improve the accessibility of the guides.
Evaluation of New and Emerging Inspection Technologies: This task focuses on evaluating inspection technologies or methodologies and helping users understand how to use them efficiently and effectively. This project aims to keep a pulse on new and emerging technologies for inspection, assessment, and maintenance of overhead transmission lines. These technologies will be shared with the funding members and possibly evaluated for their efficacy.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Inspections: Large strides have been made in the hardware and software development of UAVs and their corresponding accessories. In 2025, the goal of this task is to summarize the use cases of UAV inspection techniques for overhead transmission and perform laboratory testing of emerging drone capabilities. Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) Inspections: This task aims to evaluate the state of LiDAR technology and its application in inspecting overhead transmission lines.
Investigation into the Feasibility of an Asset Performance Model (APM): This task focuses on analyzing the implementation of an APM. There exist many methods for analyzing and documenting the performance of overhead transmission assets. In 2025, EPRI intends to perform research on the current methodologies for scrutinizing asset performance and explore potential best practices for the industry.
Anticipated Deliverables
| Deliverable | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Inspection and Assessment Reference Guide (The Yellow Book) | Reference Book | 12/31/2025 |
| Field Guides | Technical Update | 12/31/2025 |
| Evaluation of LiDAR Inspection Technologies | Technical Update | 12/31/2025 |
| Evaluation of UAV Technologies for Inspection and Assessment | Technical Update | 12/31/2025 |
Past EPRI Work on Topic
| Product ID | Title | Description | Published Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3002024282 | Evaluation of New and Emerging Inspection Technology | Understanding the use and limitations of ultrasonic cameras | 2022 |
| 3002021459 | State of the Art of Processing Inspection Imagery | Summarizes the current capability and use of image processing for transmission line inspections | 2021 |
| 3002018881 | Utility Inspection and Assessment Practices | Summarizes the latest inspection and assessment practices around the industry | 2020 |