Welcome to the first edition of the Pipeline Technology Journal (ptj) for 2025. As we begin this new year, our focus is on a core aspect of our industry: safety. Safety is both the foundation and driver for inspection and integrity management in our pipeline industry which aims to mitigate loss of containment (LOC) events.

History is peppered with incidents, both catastrophic and minor, across various assets and industries where neglecting integrity management and risk-based inspection (RBI) has led to severe consequences, including loss of life and environmental damage. These consequences are also relevant to the energy transition. In this preface, I want to highlight the 'not so catastrophic' incidents. An accumulation of these incidents throughout an asset's life may indicate poor integrity management and inspection practices, inadequate design, deficient organizational safety culture, poor ‘housekeeping’ or all of the above! Akin to the concept of fatigue life, continued neglect may increase the risk of a LOC event. Often, the details of such incidents reveal corporate lessons that should be promptly addressed.

As the saying goes - 'we should not tempt fate,' especially when consistent 'bad actors' like human factors or similar failure modes regularly appear for any given pipeline (or company!). The integrity and inspection engineering industry has many tools at its disposal to mitigate LOC events. At ptj, we aim to provide insights into how some existing and emerging tools can be used to offer fresh perspectives on pipeline health with the aim to prevent LOC events.

This edition explores some of these tools, including wear monitoring technology for slurry pipelines and reducing the carbon footprint of integrity management efforts. Additionally, recent case studies in culvert inspection using Current Magnetometry Inspection (CMI), are featured. Trust you’ll find this edition enjoyable and informative, offering a glimpse into the latest technology and trends in inspection and integrity management.

Sincerely Yours,
Adrian Lim
Independent Consultant
Member of the ptj Editorial Board