In keeping with its technologically progressive reputation and according to Trenchless International online, Campinas city officials have purchased “trenchless machinery to replace and enlarge existing drinking water pipelines.”  They made this investment not only because the technology is economical and earth-friendly but also because it worked brilliantly on a water project the city began in 2011.

SANSA, the Campinas water authority, was facing ongoing leakage problems in Sousas, a district close to the city center. But all of that stopped last June when SANSA began replacing the old asbestos cement pipes using a pipe-bursting machine.

Workers burst the first 400 meters (out of a total of 2.4 kilimeters) “in sections of 50 to 100 meters due to [the presence of] several sewer, gas and telecommunication lines along the bursting path.”  Project technicians also exercised caution because the pipeline they were working on ran parallel to a large drain pipe that needed to remain intact.

The “exact position of this existing underground service line was [unknown].”  Still, technicians had no difficulty with the project because the method they used doesn’t require precise coordinates. And even though the pipe was held together by numerous repair clamps, replacement–which included “disassembly of the construction and intermediate pits and the reestablishment of the water supply”– took less than three weeks.

With stories like this one, is it any wonder that more and more towns and cities around the world are using–and actively investing in– innovative infrastructure repair technologies?  When nothing less then guaranteed success will do, trenchless is the one and only way to go. Period.

But changes are in the works that are bound to make rudely jostled drivers much happier. Kuala Lumpur City Hall has just approved a plan to use horizontal directional drilling (HDD), also known as pipe-jacking, for all future infrastructure projects and especially those that impact city roadways.

Officials had considered using utility tunnels. But they decided against this method because construction would have forced lane closings and cost the city three to five times more than conventional methods. HDD, on the other hand, requires that only two cuts be made on the surface, launching pit and receiving pit. It also “prevents open digging and reduces the chance of damaging other cables.”

Said Mayor Tan Sri Ahmad Fuad Ismail,  “‘It is about time we switch our method for the better. Most people resist change but they need to realize that the changes made are for the better.’”

Besides saving the city money on post-installation road and property repairs, horizontal directional drilling is also environmentally friendly and state-of-the-art. Mayor Fuad noted that cities all over the world, including neighboring Singapore, “‘are enjoying the benefits of going trenchless.’”  Gas Malaysia has also adopted the method with great success.

Trenchless technology is a phenomenon that’s bringing dramatic change to cities everywhere.  It offers green, clean, cost-efficient ways to repair underground pipe and cable systems. Perhaps even more significantly, though, it’s making things a little easier for anyone who relies on the sometimes unseen–but no less important–infrastructure that  supports modern living.

Formadrain sewer repair

Australians know a good thing when they see it.  According to Trenchless Australasia online, engineers from the land down under have recently imported trenchless technology to their shores. They say this “new, cured-in-place fiberglass and epoxy composite system” will allow for the more effective rehabilitation of access chambers and sewer structures.

The beauty of this “new”– at least, to Australian engineers – technology is that it “addresses all of these issues and offers a complete and proven rehabilitation system.”

American engineers have tested and used this coating system for over 20 years. Australian Drain and Pipe Repairs (ADPR), the company that is bringing this trenchless technology down under, cites the system’s “impressive track record” as the main reason behind its adoption.

When something is this good, people hear about it. Trenchless technology is the phenomenon that just keeps just keeps getting better and reaching more people all around the world.

There are numerous ways to repair pipe, but using professionals such as Formadrain is the best way to do it

Modern cities are havens of convenience. At the same time–and almost paradoxically–they are also becoming the symbols of modern throwaway culture.

No country knows this better than Canada, which, like so many other industrialized countries, is dealing with the problem of a rapidly aging infrastructure.   According to the website No Dig.com, however, engineers, contractors and municipalities across the country are only just coming to grips with what they will need to do to repair existing buildings, bridges and underground pipes.

In the words of one Queens University professor, “As we are moving along the time axis, our structures are lasting less and less… [we] have a disposable mentality [when it comes to] our infrastructure.”

But there’s hope, especially when it comes to the problem of fixing old water, gas and sewage systems.  In a trend that mimics one that’s been observed around the world, cities are turning to trenchless technology to make lifespan-enhancing pipe repairs that cost municipal treasuries–and the environment–far less than would otherwise be the case.

Engineers reinforce existing pipes with specially made liners or replace them using innovative horizontal drilling techniques. In some cases, “pipe bursting,” which involves dragging a metal tool inside the old pipe, is the method of choice. The tool bursts the pipe and moves fragments “out of the way while a new pipe [is]  pulled through in its place.”

With the current emphasis on developing greener technologies, new innovations will focus more on developing even better techniques and “more durable materials [that leave] a minimum carbon footprint.” The challenge is perhaps the most formidable one engineers have yet faced. But given all they have accomplished since trenchless technology emerged 40 years ago, (re)building the modern cities into spaces better able to stand the many tests of time will undoubtedly happen sooner rather than later.

Formadrain's Liner

Trenchless technology isn’t just using minimally invasive methods such as directional drilling, pipe bursting and pipe re-lining to repair or replace aging infrastructure. It’s also about the detection techniques that allow engineers to determine the best course of action to take on each project they tackle.

According to Trenchless Australasia online, technicians in the Australian city of Glen Eira have been using acoustic technology that allows them to listen for water leaks. Officials say that “the leakage team… [will] listen to 750 km of water mains” to identify areas where water is escaping from pipelines.

The technology is state of the art. Pods or “small listening devices that attach to fire hydrants and pipe valves to record sound in short bursts” help engineers pinpoint where drippage is occurring.

The information each pod gathers “is then transferred to a laptop which interprets data into a graph and identifies the location of the leak.”  Technicians know that they’ve found the problem area because “the noise generated by the leak  [produces] a spike on [the] graph.”

What is especially significant about this acoustic technology is not only the fact that it detects leaks with bull’s-eye accuracy but also helps prevent costly pipe bursts. Glen Eira officials say that in the year between 2009 and 2010, “23 areas tested reported about 580 bursts [which was] well down from the previous year’s figure of around 1400.”

With every passing year, trench less technology has become the industry standard in more and more cities around the world. And with innovations like acoustic leakage detection, is it any wonder? It’s the technology of the future now.

Formadrain's Beautiful Blue Liner

According to Trenchless International online, the nearly one-mile Atchafalaya drill, which was completed  last fall, will “expand the existing Acadian Gas Pipeline System… increas[ing] market share for existing customers [and] connect[ing] the service to new markets.” The drill was part of the larger “Acadian Haynesville Extension Project, a 270 mile natural gas pipeline that originates in Red River Parish, Louisiana and terminates near Donaldsville, Louisiana.

The Atchafalaya River is a distributary of the Mississippi River. Not only does it serve as the “primary industrial shipping channel and cultural heart of Cajun Country,” it also “provides an important alternate path to the Gulf of Mexico.”  The dams and spillways located on the river allow its Mississippi source to serve Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

Part of what made the project so challenging was that any plan to drill beneath and across the Atchafalaya had to be approved by the US Army Corps of Engineers.  Moreover, because of the sand and silt at the bottom of the river,  hole stability has been a significant issue. Soil looseness has in fact caused previous drill failures.

But thanks to “Corps-approved technology and methods, which included pilot hole intersect technology and annular pressure monitoring through sensitive zones designated beneath the levee areas on either side of the Atchafalaya,” engineers were finally able to make a successful crossing. And it only took one week “for the two sides to meet 104 feet below the riverbed.”

The Atchafalaya drill is just another example of how trenchless technology is making the impossible possible. And with so many trenchless innovations on the horizon, it’s more than likely that one day, the very concept of engineering impossibility will itself become obsolete.

The sewer lines themselves are in exceptionally poor condition. One PPU official, director John Bailey, was quoted as saying that “[i]t was so bad, we couldn’t get [our robotic TV cameras] through the sewer.  This comes as no surprise since the pipes–which are cracked and restricting flow–were  probably among the first to be laid down in the Pittsburgh sewer system.”

No digging for sewer repair in Pittsburgh, Kansas.

Said Bailey, “Sooner or later, it’d plug up completely.”  This in turn would have created total chaos in the entire northeastern and northwestern quadrants of the city.

To replace the aging lines, the PPU will be using a trenchless technology method called pipe ramming. As the Morning Sun notes, the procedure is similar to “an angioplasty in heart surgery.” Workers will go into the sewer and, using hydraulics, ram the pipe outward.

“Then, we’ll pull the new sewer in,” Bailey explained.

The Pittsburgh sewer replacement is a “six-figure” project. But no one on the city commission is complaining.  Without trenchless technology, crews would have had to tear up roads and properties to get at the pipeline and then pay for the cost of repairing the damage, which would have cost the city much more.

When it comes to saving money, trenchless technology beats traditional trench-and-burial methods every time. It’s the “invisible touch” technique that’s  not only establishing itself as the industry standard, but the standard without peer for the twenty-first century.

Melbourne, Australia recently benefitted from No Dig pipe repair technology.

The project, which is estimated to cost AU$20 million, involves replacing two water mains: one measures 600 mm and the other, 300 mm. Both are located in the highly trafficked areas of a major thoroughfare known as William Street.  One of the major intersections along this route sees up to “1400 vehicles per hour” traveling through it between peak weekday hours. Moreover, William Street also serves as a tram route.

City officials decided to go with trenchless technology because doing so would allow “for faster construction and less disruption to traffic and local residents.” It would also mean that the tram could continue to run. Other benefits included minimizing “ [the] excavation/reinstatement of pavement and enabling the removal of [the] old wrought iron main for recycling.”

What took time to determine was the specific type of no dig technology to use. Pipe cracking was deemed unsuitable because of the kinds of pipes the project required.  Slip lining was rejected because “[it] would have reduced the size and capacity of the pipe.” Laser boring and directional drilling were also considered and then dropped as options because “both [would have required] a new alignment and post a higher risk of damaging other utilities during boring and drilling.”

Once the city decided on the pipe ramming method, workers went ahead and established launch and retrieval pits “on either side of the tram lines: [they then removed] sections of the existing pipe. Technicians then took a steel sleeve measuring 819 mm and “rammed [it] over the existing 600 mm wrought pipeline.” They removed the existing pipe and jacked the new one into position.

The method worked so well that city officials plan on using it for other future pipeline projects. With successes like these, trenchless technology is rapidly becoming the method of choice for smart contracting firms everywhere. And no wonder: what city in the world today can afford not to carry on with the important business of doing business?

In a wildlife preserve, non-invasive pipe repair such as Formadrain's sewer pipe replacement technology, is even more valuable.

Or so they thought.

After years of debate, officials in the nearby city of Clifton recently decided to redirect the 100-year-old sewer line—which it owns and maintains—back into the city’s municipal boundary by “build[ing] a new line using horizontal drilling.” They have allocated $50,000 to complete the project.

Repairs will involve workers making a hole in the ground and “send[ing] a drill horizontally through the earth.”  Doing so will completely eliminate eliminate the need to dig the trench environmentalists had feared would have damaged the preserve.

Said one of the members of the Friends of the Bonsal Preserve, “‘[Trenchless technology provided] the answer that we [had] been looking for. We’re in the unlikely place of feeling wildly optimistic, which is a risky thing to do when it comes to Bonsal. We have high hopes all of a sudden.”

The cracked sewer line that will be replaced is made of clay and “maybe seeping.” Once the plastic line that will replace it has been installed, the old line will be sealed off with a special cement mixture. Preserving the environment is everyone’s responsibility: and trench less technology makes it possible for people to protect nature rather than needlessly harm it.

Formadrain, the leader in no dig technologies and the inventors of the steam cured epoxy liner, has just released an epoxy liner that can be fully prepared and allowed to sit on a shelf (called “open time” or “pot life” in the industry) for a full two months until it is ready to be used.

The new epoxy-resin formulation, which utilizes Formadrain’s exclusive state-of-the-art Durapox™ technology, will actually remain in a pre-cured state for eight weeks until such time as steam is applied during the installation process, at which point the liner will fully cure in 60 minutes.

“It took two years of development,” said Steven Therrien, Vice President of Formadrain, “but we now finally have it. This could not have been developed without our special epoxy, which was engineered to cure with steam from its inception 18 years ago.”

The Miracle of Durapox:

Durapox technology is not only the first of its kind for use in underground pipe repair by sewer contractors and plumbers, it is significantly less expensive that alternatives.

For example, some Ultra Violet systems may match or exceed two months but the equipment is very expensive and such systems utilize styrene-based polyester resins. Such resins emit numerous volatile chemicals and odors that may not be suitable in various settings, such as residential applications. Some states are starting to ban polyester resins because of the danger they represent. Durapox is inexpensive and totally safe for the environment and installers.

Find Out More Today:

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