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Transporting Power Across the Grid
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Assessing Transmission Network Condition:
3D Data Capture and Reporting
By Conor Reynolds, Brisbane, Queensland, 61 7 3854 6431, reynoldsC@pbworld.com
Electricity transmission
companies face a continual
challenge to reduce the
costs of system operations
and maintenance while
increasing network availability
and reliability. PB is
involved in developing a
system that will help them.
It is accurate and efficient,
enables more effective
asset management, and
accommodates the changing
ways in which people
process information.
Each transmission line and structure is a composite of thousands of components in differing
conditions and with different remaining lives. The condition of components overall degrades
as the network ages, yet the condition of individual components upgrades as maintenance
works are completed. In the past, this information about the condition of Australia’s and
New Zealand’s electricity transmission line networks had been gathered by field staff using a
paper-based system. The information was compiled and held by contractors hired to conduct
the condition assessments.
The 3D Asset Data Capture System began as a solution to the problems associated with
managing data coming from the field in this way—those commonly being:
• Inaccurate recording of which steel components needed to be replaced, resulting in the
need for a revisit and, in cases, re-inspections.
• Inability to upload history in the field and have it for reference, resulting in a common
complaint from clients being that component conditions sometimes seemed to improve
with time! In reality, this misconception was due to the field staff not knowing what the
last inspection results were.
• Too simplistic data gathered at times, so often details about when critical components
required future maintenance or replacement were not logged.
• Inability to produce reports quickly once inspections were completed.
• Cumbersome interrogation of the gathered information at later dates.
System Overview
Our system moves the process of network condition assessment from one that was difficult
and costly to one that is much more accurate and efficient. It is a dynamic 3D graphic model
of a structure and its components with client-specific defined assessment values (Figure 1).
The graphic model can access geographic and environmental information through a geographic
information system (GIS) network.
Figure 1: A screen shot of the
3D interface.
Field staff enter the structure and component condition information via a touch-screen on a
laptop that is designed for field conditions, known as a ‘tough-book.’ They can upload photos
to the database via digital cameras and record global positions
(GPS) of access routes to sites and tower positions for future
reference, if required. The condition of all key components is
recorded, whether they are defective or not.
After the on-site assessment, this information is uploaded to a
corporate asset database that is held by PB, and then interrogated
with specialist reporting software. Outputs can be formatted
as required for each client. As the information is in a digital
format, it can also be arranged for the client to view and run
reports as required through a network connection.
The system provides an excellent overview picture of the
current condition of the line for corporate planning. At this
stage of development, the client’s requirements for data scoring
and reporting are used to match its internal process, but this
can be reviewed if required for future projects.
PB Network #68 / August 2008 66