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 3. Funding. This type of underwater investigation may be
conducted in conjunction with other inspections when the additional work is
funded.
1.2.3 Levels of Effort. The levels of effort for each type of
inspection will vary and are divided into three categories:
General Inspection
Level I
Detailed Inspection
Level II
Highly Detailed Inspection
Level III
A cost effective inspection will utilize various levels of effort on
d i f f e r e n t s e c t i o n s o f t h e f a c i l i t y . This approach addresses numerous
environmental conditions, construction methods, and structural designs along
a structure's length, width, and depth. The typical routine underwater
inspection will include 100% at Level I and a percentage of level II
determined from engineered sampling and possibly from on-site changes
resulting from observations made during the Level I effort. The Level II I
effort is normally a spot check only, unless problems are suspected in a
particular structural member. U n d e r a l l l e v e l s o f e f f o r t , v i s u a l
documentation (underwater television and/or photography) is included when
possible to adequately document the findings representative of the facility
condition.
1.2.3.1 Level I. The Level I effort is essentially a general
inspection "swim-by" overview. It does not involve cleaning of structural
elements which allows the inspection to be conducted rapidly. The Level I
effort can confirm as-built structural plans and detect obvious major damage
or deterioration due to overstress (collisions, ice), severe corrosion, or
extensive biological growth and attack. The underwater inspector relies
primarily on visual and/or tactile observations (depending on water clarity)
to make condition assessments. These observations are made over the
specified exterior surface area of the underwater structure whether it is a
quaywall, bulkhead, seawall, pile or mooring. Although this is an overview,
close attention should be given to confirming or providing information to
update available facility drawings and condition evaluations.
1 . 2 . 3 . 2 L e v e l I I . Level II efforts are complete, detailed
investigations of selected components or subcomponents directed toward
detecting and describing damaged or deteriorated areas which may be hidden
by surface biofouling (Figure l-2). Limited deterioration measurements are
obtained. These data are sufficient for gross estimates of facility load
c a p a b i l i t y . Level II inspections will often require cleaning of structural
elements. Since cleaning is time consuming, it is generally restricted to
areas that are critical or which may be typical of the entire structure.
Simple instruments such as calipers and measuring scales are commonly used
to take physical measurements (Figure l-3). Subjective judgements of
structural integrity are occasionally made by probing wood with ice picks
and by pounding concrete with hammers. A small percentage of more accurate
measurements (Level III effort) taken with sophisticated-instruments may be
required to statistically validate large numbers of simple measurements.
Where the visual scrutiny, cleaning and/or simple measurements reveal
extensive deterioration, a small sampling of detailed measurements will
enable gross estimates to be made of the structure's integrity.
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