On July 18, two dams in China’s Inner Mongolia collapsed after heavy rains battered the region, sending torrents of water downriver, causing severe flooding across farmland and forcing thousands of people to evacuate their homes.

How can pipeline operators monitor construction activity taking place in close proximity to their infrastructure?

It's a daunting task when you consider the size of land that must be covered. Oil & gas pipelines cover thousands of miles, making it very difficult to monitor their flanking right-of-way corridors by simply walking or driving.

The operators of transmission lines and oil & gas pipelines must continuously monitor vast tracts of land for the slightest encroachment that could have catastrophic results unless addressed and remediated without delay.

A tree that grows too close to power lines or an excavator digging near an underground pipeline are the types of problems that need to be flagged immediately to avoid disasters.