Alexandria, Virginia Fleet Management recently acquired a lateral launch CUES Camera Truck that will help city crews inspect sanitary sewer infrastructure to identify locations of defects faster, giving residents valuable information on their lateral connection pipes.

The city is replacing its closed-circuit television inspection vehicle, which is limited to
mainline sanitary sewer inspections, with an inspection vehicle with lateral launch
camera capabilities.

The new technology allows crews to drop the robot camera into the main sanitary sewer line and deploy a second camera from its side to inspect lateral lines that connect homes and businesses to the city’s sanitary sewer infrastructure.

“Some of the repairs we make are where the lateral and mainlines meet,” said Derek
Claytor, superintendent of sewers and hydrant maintenance. “The lateral launch
technology will help enhance our maintenance response to protect our residents’
properties.”

The truck will be operated by staff from the Public Works Division in coordination with the Sanitary Infrastructure Division and maintained by staff in Fleet Management.
Since the older mainline truck doesn’t have the technology to inspect lateral lines, city staff have previously coordinated with on-call contractors for inspections, which can
take several days.

The new truck will fast-track inspections by removing the need to coordinate with the on-call contractor so that crews can instantly respond and drop the lateral launch camera for the inspection. Depending on the location of the defect, the responsibility for repair will either be the property owner or the city.

The city proactively inspects sections of sanitary infrastructure throughout the year. Over the past 10 years, Claytor said he recalls two inspection initiatives that covered the entirety of the city's 240 miles of sanitary and combined sewers.