Citizens Energy Group has approximately 62,000 manholes throughout the collection system. Citizens conducts inspections of these assets to identify, understand, and address system needs, especially for those assets nearing the end of their useful life. Inspections are completed via a handheld device, often a smartphone, to populate a digital inspection report and take images of the structure.
Through Citizens’ Partnership for Excellence in Research and Learning (PERL) program, a multi-disciplinary group of seniors in the senior mechanical engineering capstone course at IUPUI designed a prototype apparatus during the 2022-23 academic year to aid in manhole inspections.
Because manholes can range between 4 feet and 30 feet in depth, a flashlight or illumination device is used to see the entire structure. On occasion, items fall during inspections and may be forever lost due to the risks of accessing a sanitary confined space.
The goal of the students’ project was to explore the development of a lightweight and portable device to assist inspectors needing to use multiple tools during routine inspections. The students were expected to deliver a prototype design, standard operating procedures for using the tool, and a robust report detailing the design, a safety analysis, and a cost analysis.
Students kicked off the project on February 1 with Justin Burnett, Engineer II, Capital Programs & Engineering. Justin serves as a project leader and PERL ambassador for IUPUI. Students delivered their final presentation to Citizens managers, directors, and Vice President Energy Operations JP Ghio on April 21.
The final device was an extendable-leg apparatus featuring safety mesh to hold a smartphone featuring a built-in light source that will ultimately help streamline manhole inspections while improving data integrity for better asset documentation. The Water Operations business unit is currently working with a manufacturer to build the device, and Citizens personnel will soon begin testing it in the field.
PERL offers Citizens a chance to connect with the workforce’s next generation and collaborate with them to develop solutions to real-world challenges while also providing students professional development opportunities.
