TECHFILE
JW Fisher
Subsea Metal Detector
A magnetometer, or "mag," as it is often called, is a super sensitive metal detector that can locate iron and steel objects at ranges in the hundreds of feet. When Bay County Utility Services in Panama City, Fla. needed to locate an old water line that runs under Grand Lagoon, it turned to commercial diving company HT Marine Services for assistance. Equipped with a JW Fisher Diver Mag 1 hand-held magnetometer, HT's divers entered the area where they suspected the pipeline was buried under several feet of mud and silt. They began working a grid pattern and soon the mag began to indicate the presence of a significant steel mass. Divers were alerted to presence of a target by strong readings on the instrument's visual and audio alarms, letting them know they had located the pipeline.
www.jwfishers.com
September 2009
www.marinelink.com
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