Utilizing Artificial Intelligence to Support the City of Miami Beach’s SSES and Biscayne Bay Water Quality Improvement Program

Automated Defect Recognition (ADR) and Advanced Analytics are revolutionizing sewer infrastructure management by leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. By automating the process of reviewing and analyzing CCTV inspection footage, ADR platforms provide accurate and consistent defect coding, reducing human error and improving efficiency. The City of Miami Beach started the Sewer System Evaluation Survey (SSES) and the Biscayne Bay Water Quality Improvement Programs to reduce inflow and infiltration, maintain the system, and make proactive repairs to the gravity sewer system. The City started looking for an alternative solution that can make faster and accurate evaluations and provide for evidence-based rehabilitation decisions. AECOM, in partnership with the City, is using an AI tool, which uses ADR to identify the operational and structural sewer defects from the inspection videos with confidence. The high-quality data output, a NASSCO PACP-coded database, is then processed through a decision-making model that identifies intervention actions.