WorldWide Drilling Resource

58 AUGUST 2014 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® Up-The-Tower, Down-The-Pipe Cameras by Ray Roerick Sales Manager, Well-Vu, Inc. Down hole video cameras can be “up-the-tower, down-the- pipe” cameras for water tower and power line inspection tools. Last year, we were approached by a cell tower repair com- pany to see if a down hole video camera could be used in their industry. Seems one of the companies doing cell tower repairs had a major problem. Until that day, the routine was to climb the tower, inspect for cracks, then send up the welding crew to weld the needed repairs. Unfortunately, birds have a habit of building nests in the towers. You know, sticks, grass, etc. Then add to the nice nested pile of kindling, rub- ber-coated wires, and in some cases, 20- 30 sets of wires. Shortly after the welding started, one of the ground crew noticed there was smoke coming from the top of the tower. Needless to say, the welding stopped, but it was definitely too late for the tower. The good news is the five peo- ple on the tower were able to get to the ground safely, including two people who had to repel down it. Of course, the standard camera system was too big and bulky to send up the tower to video inspect prior to work begin- ning. With a little redesign, reducing both the size and weight, the new camera system hit the field. Now, the repair crew brings the camera up the tower, lowering it in. A ground crew monitors and records the tower prior to beginning any welding. There was also a new use for the same camera system. Seems there are large water towers in some areas which also require routine inspections. Used to be, the city crew would don a scuba outfit and enter the tower for inspection. Now, saving time and money, they send in a down hole video camera to do the inspection for them. Then there is the power company in a bay area that also sent scuba divers down on a regular basis to swim the bay bot- tom to inspect the power cable underwater. Thanks to a down hole video camera and a simple inverted “V” attachment to the camera, the crew starts out at the shore, puts one leg of each “V” on each side of the cable, and with a crew in a boat, they pull the camera along the cable, inspecting and recording the results. Ray Ray Roerick may be contacted via e-mail at admin@worldwidedrillingresource.com