Montreal workers deploy high-tech robot to Investigate water main break [Video]

City of Montreal workers went below ground on Thursday to check on water mains – focusing on the same section of pipe that burst on Aug. 16 and flooded streets in south-central Montreal.  

The crew used high-tech equipment, including a water main inspection robot.

“It’s the same pipe. It’s just different segments,” said Maja Vodanovic, the executive committee member responsible for water. “So, we’re inspecting the 2.6 kilometres of the pipe to where it broke.

Serge Paul, the section chief of the Montreal water service, explained that once the robot is lowered into the pipe, workers monitor for wire breaks as it navigates through.

“And we have real-time HD video. The signal travels through the wires, and if we have distortion in the signal, we know there is a break,” he said.

The pipe received a grade “A” during its last inspection, raising further questions about its rapid degradation.

The …