Nondestructive Testing – What I Did on my Summer Vacation

Most people are unfamiliar with the world of nondestructive testing.  In fact, more people have heard of Quantum Physics and String Theory then have heard of the science of NDT. Like these other fields of scientific inquiry, once introduced to NDT, most folks immediately want to know more. Unlike theoretical physics, which is something that few people come into contact with on an everyday basis, the practice of NDT is one of the little known processes that keep our technological world spinning day in and day out.

Having just returned from a service trip to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon while working with the US Park Service, I met a number of other volunteers from all over the country. There was a doctor, two lawyers, a librarian, some teachers and even a retired park ranger. But of the twenty or so people who took part in the project, only one had any experience at all with NDT.

As is customary with groups like these, it wasn’t long before we started to introduce ourselves and what we did for a living.  When I told the group that I was an NDT professional, they all looked at me as though I had just admitted to being an alien from another planet.  Once I showed them some photos of the equipment used in my line of work, they were convinced of it.

 http://youtu.be/YPZ2ulbn6Lo 

Whether you realize it or not, NDT professionals are an integral part of the US work force. They are involved with all types of industries and are a necessary requirement for industrial safety and reliability. The reasons that bridges don’t fall and pipelines and storage tanks fail to burst is due to legions of nameless testing professionals who are responsible for inspecting the nation’s infrastructure.  The other big beneficiary of this kind of work is the environment.

NDT helps to prevent accidental releases and spills of all sorts of nasty products and chemicals into our soil and water sources of this country.  Maybe that’s why when talking about NDT to a group of volunteers for the Park Service they seemed so interested in the techniques and procedures surrounding nondestructive testing.

While there were many occupations represented by the group, the person most familiar with NDT was a retired park ranger. A few years back, some underground gas lines had been discovered on a parcel of land the park service was looking to acquire. As part of the land deal, the gas company that owned the pipeline was required to inspect the line.   The park ranger I met on my trip had been assigned the task of insuring the inspection was completed. After hearing what I did for a living, she questioned me at length on the various types of NDT inspections that I performed.  

I took the time to give her some technical insights about the inspection requirements for different types of above and below ground piping.   But all I kept worrying about was that