V&A Leads Specialist Team to Combat Corrosion in Large-Diameter Pipelines

Corrosion expert urges "meaningful asset management" for
wastewater facilities
OAKLAND, Calif.--(Business Wire)--To help municipal public works agencies manage underground
infrastructure assets more effectively, Oakland-based V&A Consulting
Engineers has established the Civil Infrastructure Assessment Group
(CIAG), a team of specialist firms offering state-of-the-art
capabilities for investigation and assessment of large-diameter
wastewater pipelines. Member firms include V&A, Brenford Environmental
Services (Pearland, TX), National Plant Services Inc. (Long Beach,
CA), the Pressure Pipe Inspection Company Ltd. (Mississauga, Ontario)
and RedZone Robotics (Pittsburgh, PA). "The plan is to help clients
achieve meaningful asset management by offering a single, flexible,
rapid-response source for many of the best available technologies,"
said Jose L. Villalobos, P.E., founder and president of V&A, a leading
corrosion control firm with offices in Oakland, San Diego and Houston.

"Asset-management problems with wastewater facilities usually
arise due to incomplete or inadequate assessment of existing
conditions," Villalobos says. "Many sewer systems haven't been
inspected since they went into service. For older systems there may
not even be a reliable inventory, let alone 'as-built' drawings or
complete records. Without real information, management has to rely on
a desktop analysis and hope their assumptions about actual conditions
are correct. As a result, billions of dollars' worth of critical
public assets are now being managed based on an educated guess."

CIAG, in contrast, will provide real-time quantitative data,
Villalobos says, using a wide range of advanced assessment
capabilities. "These new technologies are the only way to get a clear
picture of actual, real-world conditions," Villalobos explains. "Many
facilities cannot be entered for inspection because they are always
full of water or otherwise inaccessible, or because the system is one
that has to operate 24/7. Our approach is designed to provide the best
possible information in order to support the best asset management
decisions."

Several other companies are expected to join CIAG soon, adding to
the team's capabilities. "This is a dynamic consortium," Villalobos
noted, "that will add members as their technologies become
commercially available."

Brenford Environmental Systems (www.brenford.com), formerly Garner
West, is the industry leader in large-diameter sewer cleaning.
Brenford is revolutionizing the way many challenging cleanup jobs are
done with its patented Sewer Hog(TM) technology--a powerful,
positive-pressure, closed-loop, non-odor-emitting system that achieves
results cleanly and safely, with no interruption in service and in a
fraction of the time need with any conventional cleaning technology.
The Pressure Pipe Inspection Company (www.ppic.com) extends the life
of prestressed concrete cylinder pipelines (PCCP) with
state-of-the-art inspection systems that provide the most accurate
infrastructure evaluation currently available for all types of water
and force mains. PPIC's patented inspection technologies include
(left) Remote Field Transformer Coupling (RFTC), an electromagnetic
inspection system that locates and quantifies breaks in a PCCP's
prestressing wires, and (far left) the Sahara(R) leak detection
sensor, which pinpoints even the smallest leaks in water mains without
disrupting pipeline service.

RedZone Robotics, Inc. (www.redzone.com) develops innovative,
semi-automated products and technologies that reduce costs and
simplify operations for clients in the industrial, nuclear, and
defense markets. For the water and wastewater markets, RedZone
designs, manufactures and operates systems that inspect large-diameter
pipes using an array of digital and measurable sensors. RedZone's
"Responder" robotic platform, featured in the History Channel's
"Modern Marvels" series, incorporates multiple sensors to create 3D
models of sewer pipes and obtain the data needed to understand the
condition of these essential municipal facilities.

National Plant Services (www.nationalplant.com), a Carylon
Corporation company, specializes in environmental maintenance
services: sewer cleaning; closed-circuit TV inspection of sewers;
infiltration/inflow control; manhole rehabilitation; sewer system
studies; catch basin cleaning; preventative sewer maintenance
programs; digester cleaning; pit and tank cleaning; heavy industrial
vacuum services; non-destructive utility locating; and high-pressure
water blasting.

Founded by Jose L. Villalobos, P.E., in 1979, V&A
(www.vaengineering.com) is a multidisciplinary professional firm
headquartered in Oakland, California, with offices in Houston and San
Diego. Highly regarded for expertise in corrosion engineering, coating
systems management, condition assessment and structural
rehabilitation, V&A has played a leading role in protecting and
extending the useful life of civil infrastructure facilities, public
and private, for the water, wastewater and transit sectors.

Further information about CIAG is available from The Civil
Infrastructure Assessment Group, c/o V&A Consulting Engineers, Inc.,
1999 Harrison Street, Suite 975, Oakland, CA 94612, or by email at
info@vaengineering.com.

Salwen Business Communications
Peter Salwen, 917-620-5371
public.relations@yahoo.com

Copyright Business Wire 2007