Great Man Made River Authority (GMRA): The Role of Acoustic Monitoring in the Management of the World's Largest Prestressed Concrete Cylinder Pipe Project

The world's largest Prestressed Concrete Cylinder Pipe (PCCP) project is owned and operated by the Great Man Made River Authority (GMRA). Since its conception in 1984 the project has grown to include almost 4000 km (2,485 mi) of large-diameter prestressed concrete pipe. Eventually over 6.0 million cu m (5,270 acre-ft) of water will be conveyed every day from aquifers in the desert to the coast in 4 m (157 in.) diameter PCCP. The management of such a pipeline requires state of the art inspection tools coupled with a focused engineering strategy. This paper describes the current condition assessment program and long-term management strategy developed by GMRA. Emphasis will be placed on the role of acoustic monitoring in condition and risk assessment of the pipes.