Got my first deep inspection gig and almost choked on my own nerves

I had my first real non-destructive testing job on a bridge pier in Seattle two days ago. Water was murky, viz was maybe 2 feet, and I kept second-guessing every anomaly I saw on the UW camera. Turned out my supervisor was watching the feed topside and said I actually flagged a crack that the engineering report missed. I guess trusting your training pays off even when you feel like a total newb. Has anyone else had a first dive where they thought they bombed but it went okay?

2 comments

2 Comments

finleyk871mo ago

Saw a thread where a diver said their first deep inspection was on a bridge in Portland and they almost missed a big crack because they thought it was just a scratch. Ended up saving the crew a headache later when the engineers double checked. Sounds like you had a similar lucky break catching that crack! First dives are always rough, but your training is what gets you through it.

park.iris1mo ago

Wait, hold on - @finleyk87, are you telling me that diver almost blew past a crack that big and thought it was just a scratch? That's wild, like how do you even mistake something structural like that for just a surface thing? I remember my first serious dive inspection, I was so focused on not panicking about the depth that I hyperfocused on every little barnacle, probably would have missed something obvious too if my buddy hadn't pointed it out. So yeah, training kicks in, but sometimes it's pure luck that you catch your own blind spots before the engineers do.