Enbridge and NDT Global, two of the pipeline industry's major players, have announced a multi-year collaboration agreement aiming to set a new industry standard for pipeline integrity assessment.

The goal of the joint effort is to develop an inspection tool to better assess pipeline cracks with high resolution ultrasonic equipment. It will ultimately bring further innovation and a new technology capability to the existing integrity management programs.

Walter Kresic, Vice President of Pipeline Integrity at Enbridge, said "we are continually looking for opportunities to enhance existing technologies, and progress new ones, in the areas of design, construction, operation and maintenance, to keep our pipelines safe. We believe this next generation project with NDT Global will build on the industry leading tools and technology we already use, and further enhance our ability to inspect, monitor and prioritize cracking threats in pipelines."

This statement was echoed by Mario Lemme, CEO of NDT Global: "NDT Global's long-term goal is to eliminate pipeline failure due to pipe integrity defects. Achieving this requires collaboration in long-term research and development projects. We are delighted to collaborate closely with Enbridge on this initiative, which offers a real opportunity to make a breakthrough in crack assessment capability."

An important step in this research and development program will be to prove the equipment capability by conducting test runs within the Enbridge pipelines in Canada and the U.S.