Third-party damage (TPD) cracks form in pipelines from external mechanical interference — including excavation hits, construction equipment impacts, anchor strikes, and vehicle loading.

Third-party damage (TPD) cracks form in pipelines from external mechanical interference — including excavation hits, construction equipment impacts, anchor strikes, and vehicle loading. TPD is the leading cause of immediate pipeline failures and a significant threat to buried infrastructure safety.

Third-party damage can cause dents, gouges, coating removal, and crack initiation that may lead to immediate or delayed failure. Even minor mechanical damage can create stress concentrations that develop into fatigue cracks or stress corrosion cracking over time.

Prevention includes one-call systems (dial-before-you-dig), pipeline markers, right-of-way surveillance, and depth of cover monitoring. EMPIT’s CMI technology supports TPD prevention and detection through non-invasive depth of cover measurement, pipeline position mapping, and integrity assessment — identifying areas where pipelines are at elevated risk due to shallow burial, encroachment, or ground disturbance.