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THERMOPIPE® REJUVENATES AN AGING WATER PIPE IN NORTHERN IRELAND
 Below fibre optic cables on the Portaferry Road
in Newtownards, Co. Down, Northern Ireland runs a 30 year old, cast
iron, 76 mm (3 in) diameter water pipeline which, due to its maturity
has suffered tuberculation and rusting of the inner and outer pipe
wall. The condition of the pipe was such that, without rehabilitation,
the number of defects within the pipeline would increase. The pipeline
had a number of service connections off it to the local houses and
businesses which would be affected by this.
After careful consideration of the options available for the
upgrading of the pipeline, client Northern Ireland Water, in
association with the projects main contractor McNicholas and its design
engineer Faber Maunsel, decided to utilise trenchless rehabilitation in
the form of Insituform Technologies’ Thermopipe® lining system.
In all, some 2 km (1.2 miles) of the 76 mm (3 in) diameter pipeline was in need of rehabilitation.
PLANNING AND INFORMATION
Given the location of the works on a country road, disruption to
the local residents and businesses in the area was to be kept to a
minimum. All stakeholders, including local residents, businesses and
DRD Roads Service received notification of the installation one month
prior to the start date.
During the planning stage all Health & Safety
requirements were put into place and during the course of the works no
incidents were reported.
Initial works to establish the existing state of the pipeline included:
 A sonde survey to trace the route of the host pipeline
- A
CCTV survey to locate and establish measurements to service tappings
and other connections which would need to be reconnected post lining
- Road Traffic Notifications and Management systems were put into place; and
- Customer Notifications and Public Relations leaflets were created and distributed across the area
This enabled the required access pits to be excavated and
work areas to be created at predetermined distances along the pipe
route to allow for the liner installation and the siting of the
necessary generator, compressor, steam boiler and winches.
As this was an active water service pipe, arrangements had to be made for a continuous water supply using a rider pipe.
In total, some ten individual lining operations were completed
during the course of the contract. The longest of these installations
totalled some 250 m. Generally one individual lining installation was
completed per day. The installation works at Portaferry Road started in
April 2008 and were successfully completed within a couple of weeks.
THERMOPIPE®
The Thermopipe® system is a polyester reinforced, polyethylene
structural lining system that offers major advantages for the
rehabilitation of pressure mains. The liner stops leakage by bridging
and sealing holes and faulty joints, improves the quality of the water,
reduces social cost because of its low foot print and minimal downtime,
and it is a very cost effective way of extending the life of water
supply infrastructure systems with its 50 year design life.
The
Insituform® system provides an independent structural lining with an
internal pressure rating of 12 bar (16 bar for 100 mm through 200 mm
diameter). It is available for pipe diameters from 60 to 300 mm.
One of the major advantages of the system is that it offers
the ability to rapidly install up to 300 m (1,000 linear feet) in just
a few hours whilst being able to negotiate multiple bends in the host
pipeline.
The Thermopipe® system is designed for the rehabilitation of
water mains (both raw water supply and clean water distribution) and
other pressure pipe systems such as sewer pumping mains, fire water
mains and industrial pressure applications. It is supplied as a
factory-folded ‘C’ shape liner, which is winched into the host pipe
from a reel located at one of just two main access pits required for an
installation. Once winched into place, the liner system utilises air
pressure and steam to revert it to its fully round shape within the
host pipe creating a jointless, leak-free lining able to carry the full
pipe system internal design pressure, independent of the remaining
structural strength of the host pipe. The installation process is
simple and most installations can usually be completed within hours.
The system also carries several recognised approvals including:
- Certification by NSF International as complying with the requirements of NSF/ANSI Standard 61
- UK DWI Approval
- Manufactured under a Quality Management System approved to ISO 9000
The basic installation process of Thermopipe® includes:
- Thermopipe is winched off a reel using low loads and pulled into the host pipe.
- The lining system is then inflated with air and subsequently heated with steam.
- After a short cool down period, end couplers and service connection ferrules are attached.
Once
the installation was completed, the entire pipe was disinfected prior
to a sample being taken and sent to the NI Water laboratory. The pipe
was then made live and properties transferred on to the new main.
Shauna Herron, Managing Director of Insituform Environmental
Techniques said “We have a happy client who was pleased with the speed
of the installation and the low-disruption technique selected. The
close cooperation between the main contractor, McNicholas and
InsituformET ensured a successful outcome of the project.”
Insituform Environmental Techniques Ltd. is a subsidiary of
Insituform Technologies, Inc., a leading worldwide provider of
proprietary technologies and services for rehabilitating sewer, water
and other underground piping systems without digging or disruption.
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