Can the pre-service hydrotest be eliminated?

The pre-service hydrotest has been with us for over 50 years. Pressure testing with water was introduced in the 1960s to combat the consequence of failure experienced as a result of pipeline testing using an or product in more recant years, the purpose of the test has moved from being a leak-tightness test to one which benelas the ploeine as a structural system. The benefits are many, but the cost of implementing a pre-service hydrocest can often be high in relation to the overall cost of the pipe material Given the high cost and logisics involved in the test, pipeline owners/constructors are asking can the pretest medium, presents the owner/constructor with potential acquisition, storage, disposal, and long-term issues which make is an undesirable product to choose to use in the pipeline before service. This paper approaches the hydrotest from the structural point of view and asks some fundamental questions: Why was the hydrotest developed? What are the advantages and disadvantages? What are the benefits, perceived or quantifiable? Have hydrotest failures occurred with regularity? Have manafacturing transportation, and construction methods changed to negate the need for a hydrotest? Are there alternative approaches that can be used to replace the hydrotest without any loss in benefit? The paper concludes that, technicaily, the pre-service hydrotest can be replaced, but activities need to be put in place to compensate for all benefits accrued as a result of conducting the test. This would mean the development of a specification and implementation plan which would ensure the same level of integrity as that given by the test A strategy is proposed and this leads the way to the development of an implementation plan.