North American Special - Trenchless International

In this issue | Canada | USA | Japan | France | China | UK | Saudi Arabia | Germany | Australia 

Asset Management 

Robotics 

Oil & Gas 

North 

American 

Special 

April 2009 

Issue 3 

The official magazine of the ISTT

herrenknecht AG | utility tunnellinG | t r A ffic tunnellinG 

u SA 

lOnG DiStAnce tunnellinG in the uSA 

SetS neW StAnDArDS. 

POrtlA n D | u SA 

PROJECT DATA 

M-1122M, AVND2000AB 

Diameter: 2,605mm 

Max. torque: 780kNm 

Tunnel length: 9 drives, 

totaling 2,393m 

Geology: sand, gravel, loam 

CONTRACTOR 

KBB JV 

(Bilfinger Berger AG, 

Kiewit Construction 

Co.) 

S-348, Mixshield KBB JV 

Diameter: 7,700mm (Bilfinger Berger AG, 

Driving power: 1,000kW Kiewit Construction 

Tunnel length: 

Co.) 

6,189m + 2,721m 

Geology: sand, silt, gravel 

with stones and stone blocks 

An impressive record result in long distance tunnelling: In scarcely 1.5 months, the Herrenknecht 

Micromachine AVND2000AB achieved a U.S. record in Portland (Oregon). For a large 

wastewater project, the “Combined Sewer Overflow System” on the Willamette River, the 

construction site team succeeded in precisely and rapidly producing a 938 meters long 

microtunnel without intermediate shaft which is the longest ever excavated by a machine. 

In times of heavy rainfall, the “Combined Sewer Overflow System” on the western and 

eastern banks of the river, will temporarily store the city’s mixed water and then channel it 

to a treatment plant in a controlled way. In order to connect the existing wastewater lines 

to the new storage tunnel, a Herrenknecht Micromachine is boring a total of nine partial 

sections with an overall length of 2,393 meters through sand, gravel and loam. Although iron 

rail spikes and timber dock piles in the underground made tunnelling more difficult, the 

machine achieved the new milestone on the “Outfall 46” section. 

Until completion in 2011, a total of four Herrenknecht tunnelling machines will have 

been in operation. Among them, the S-348 Mixshield (Ø 7.7m) which is excavating an almost 

nine kilometer long stretch of the new storage tunnel on the eastern river bank. Thanks to 

best weekly performances of up to 160 meters, 3,732 meters of tunnel could already be 

completed by January 2009. 

This means, that both machine and environmental protection are moving forward in 

Portland. 

Herrenknecht AG 

D-77963 Schwanau 

Phone + 49 7824 302-0 

Fax + 49 7824 3403 

marketing@herrenknecht.com 

Herrenknecht Corporation 

98390 Sumner, USA 

Phone +1 253 447 2335 

Fax +1 253 863-9397 

joconnell@herrenknecht-usa.com 

www.herrenknecht.com

Dec Downey 

Istt Chairman 

Trenchless Middle East, organised 

recently in Dubai by Westrade Group, 

was a great success attracting almost 

70 participating companies and a host 

of visitors from 32 countries. A large 

group of German companies, led by 

GSTT Chairman Prof Jens Hoelterhoff and 

Secretary Klaus Beyer, participated and 

we were once again generously entertained 

by the German Consul General 

at the residence. We enjoyed the participation 

of some 30 delegates in our 

Trenchless Masterclass and the lively 

discussions spilled over into the breaks, 

signalling that the event formula is working 

and, with experience, will improve 

even more. Westrade’s performance in 

Dubai hopefully gives us just a hint of 

what they will be able to achieve for ISTT 

in Singapore in 2010. 

This weekend I am travelling to Hong 

Kong to promote the objectives of ISTT by 

speaking at the International Conference 

on Utility Management and Safety, many 

thanks to our HKSTT colleagues for securing 

this invitation. In preparation I have 

spent some time thinking through ideas 

about the contribution our technologies 

make to 21st Century pipeline construction 

and rehabilitation. We often speak 

about the challenges of ageing underground 

infrastructure and the benefits 

of our technologies in addressing urban 

renewal with minimum disruption, but 

there is much more to say about the contribution 

of Trenchless Technology to the 

maintenance of existing networks and the 

construction of pipelines for the future. 

It seems to me that many of today’s 

problems can be attributed as much 

to the historic choices of materials and 

methodology available at the time of construction 

as to time-related deterioration 

and shortcomings in construction supervision. 

With the clarity of hindsight, we can 

identify some of our past mistakes and 

build on this hard-earned understanding 

to do better for our communities, and the 

trenchless option has so much to offer in 

these initiatives. 

Trenchless methods facilitate construction 

with less joints or better-made joints, 

with potentially more durable materials 

and with less reliance on hard-to-supervise 

skills in the darker corners of the 

underground. Today we have improved 

geotechnical exploration and utility location 

skills, though further development is 

required. The practices of microtunnelling, 

pipe ramming and horizontal directional 

drilling have improved substantially. 

Modern pipe materials properly installed 

by these methods must surely offer sustainable 

solutions to the challenge. 

We have an increasing tool box of technologies 

to address ageing pipelines and 

provide lasting solutions to these problems. 

While condition assessment and 

service connection reinstatement remain 

challenging, many of the rehabilitation 

techniques we use have been tried and 

tested over a considerable length of time 

and our retrospective evaluations can 

underpin service life predictions. New 

techniques continue to evolve, along with 

our understanding of the pipe-soil interface. 

We have high hopes for emerging 

structural spray and reinforced linings. 

Quality of construction work and safety 

of installation crews are very important 

facets of our business. In my Hong Kong 

presentation I hope to show that our 

industry has placed due emphasis on 

these aspects, which will extend the 

appeal of our skills to a larger audience 

of professionals in a marketplace where 

Trenchless Technology is an essential 

consideration. 

FROM the CHAIRMAN's desk 

April 2009 - Trenchless International 

1

Issue 3 - April 2009 

Great Southern Press 

Pty Ltd 

For the Americas call +1 216220 5126 

For Europe call +453696 5124 

For the United Kingdom call +44 208133 5127 

For Australasia call +61 39248 5100 

For Asia call +85 28124 5122 

query@trenchlessinternational.com 

www.trenchlessinternational.com 

Editor: Chris Bland 

Associate Editor: Kate Pemberton 

Sales Manager: Tim Thompson 

Senior Account Manager: David Marsh 

Sales Representative: Brett Thompson 

Design Manager: Michelle Bottger 

Designers: Venysia Kurniawan, 

Stephanie Rose, Sandra Noke 

Proofing: Michelle Perl 

Event Co-ordinator: Stephanie Fielden 

GPO Box 4967 

Melbourne VIC 3001 Australia 

Fax: +61 3 9602 2708 

ISSN: 1836-3474 

In this issue | Canada | USA | Japan | France | China | UK | Saudi Arabia | Germany | Australia 

The official magazine of the ISTT 

Asset Management 

Robotics 

Oil & Gas 

North 

American 

Special 

April 2009 

Issue 3 

Photo courtesy of American Augers. 

REGULARS 

From the Chairman’s Desk 1 

Executive Director’s Report 4 

Upcoming Events 16 

About ISTT/Membership 69 

ISTT Membership/Directory 69 

Contacts and Addresses of Affiliated Societies 70 

Advertisers’ Index 72 

Subscription and Information 72 

News 

World Wrap 6 

Pipes & People 8 

News in Brief 10 

istt news 

Trenchless in Toronto 12 

Trenchless City: preserving the environment 14 

PFTT celebrates ten years 16 

Remembering a trenchless Pioneer 17 

special feature 

Made in China 18 

Projects 

Reconstructing pipes in Wajima City 20 

UV light: curing pipe problems 23 

All wound up in Poland 26 

Alleviating flooding in Ashbourne 28 

Rehabilitation of a return line for cooling water 30 

Products and Services 

Locating laterals in Toronto 34 

A guide to manual coating application 35 

ASSET MANAGEMENT 

Managing assets in Las Vegas 36 

Risky business 37 

Covering your assets 40 

ENVIRONMENT 

Delivering desalinated water to Sydney 43 

Pipe and conduit 


Part one - a brief history and guide 46 

Record SWP down under 49 

north america 

Trenchless Technology - building the economy 51 

Testing the limits of HDD 53 

Rehabilitating New York City's NCA 57 

Auger boring through hard rock: 

overcoming the challenge 60 

HRX: heading across the harbour 62 

HDD is the key to the Keystone Pipeline 66 

Oil and gas 

Undersea HDD rescue in Saudi Arabia 68 

This magazine is an official publication of the 

International Society for Trenchless Technology 

(ISTT) and is distributed free to members and other 

interested parties worldwide. It is also available on 

subscription. 

The publishers welcome editorial contributions from 

interested parties. However, neither the publishers 

nor the ISTT accept responsibility for the content 

of these contributions and the views contained 

therein which will not necessarily be the views of the 

publishers or the ISTT. Neither the publishers nor the 

ISTT accept responsibility for any claims made by 

advertisers. 

All communications should be directed to the 

publishers. 

ROBOTICS 

The role of robotics in the trenchless industry 32 

2 3

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORT 

John Hemphill 

Istt Executive Director 

International Society for 

Trenchless Technology 

Chairman: Dr Dec Downey 

dec.downey@jasonconsult.com 

Vice-Chairman: Dr Samuel Ariaratnam 

ariaratnam@asu.edu 

Executive Director: John Hemphill 

hemphill@istt.com 

Membership Secretary: Kyoko Kondo 

kondo@istt.com 

Executive Sub Committee 

Derek Choi: China 

Karel Franczyk: Czech Republic 

Gerda Hald: Denmark 

Norman Howell: United Kingdom 

Olga Martynyk: Ukraine 

It is Wednesday, 18 February. I am on 

a Boeing 777 at 38,000 feet somewhere 

over the Atlantic Ocean on my way home 

from Dubai, UAE where I participated in 

teaching, along with Drs Dec Downey 

and Sam Ariaratnam, in a highly successful 

ISTT Masterclass. The class was a 

part of the 2009 Trenchless Middle East 

International Exhibition and Conference. 

The Masterclass was a first for ISTT. It 

featured technical presentations by the 

three of us on subjects ranging from new 

installation techniques, such as horizontal 

direction drilling and pipe bursting, 

to pipe rehabilitation, including pipe linings 

and pipeline condition assessment. 

These presentations were supplemented 

by presentations from trenchless manufacturing 

and contractors on real-world, 

case-studies of trenchless projects. 

The Dubai ISTT Masterclass had over 

40 participants from several Middle 

Eastern countries including the UAE, 

Saudi Arabia, and Oman, as well as 

attendees from Russia, Bulgaria and the 

United Kingdom. 

The Masterclass format seems ideal 

for getting the message on Trenchless 

Technology to regions of the world where 

we have no affiliated societies and to 

affiliated societies that have a need for 

trenchless training but may not be in 

a position to host an ISTT No-Dig. The 

Masterclass format allows the training 

to be structured to meet local training 

needs. Masterclasses can be put together 

relatively quickly and, as the Dubai experience 

has shown us, it can be a very 

effective training tool. 

Our next big event in 2009 is the 

International No-Dig in Toronto. It is 

just around the corner – 29 March to 3 

April. By the time this issue of Trenchless 

International is published, we will be 

co-hosting the No-Dig conference and 

exhibition with North American Society 

for Trenchless Technology. In addition to 

over 140 technical papers authored by 

representatives from 15 countries outside 

North America, the ISTT will recognise 

achievements in the trenchless industry 

including two product awards, and a 

project award. The Society will also make 

its fifth award of the ISTT Gold Medal at 

the 2009 No-Dig. The Gold Medal Award 

is the highest honour bestowed by the 

Society to an individual involved in promoting 

Trenchless Technology in-country 

and worldwide. 

ISTT’s 2009 educational activities do 

not end with the 2009 No-Dig. We will 

continue to pursue training opportunities 

with affiliates and in other regions of the 

world. We anticipate holding several more 

Masterclasses this year and in 2010. 

Before we know it, the 2010 No-Dig 

Conference and Exhibition will be upon 

us. The 2010 No-Dig is scheduled to 

be held the first week of November in 

Singapore. 

C 

M 

Y 

CM 

MY 

CY 

CMY 

K 

www.istt.com 

info@istt.com 


Executive Director, ISTT 

308 S. Lee Street 

Alexandria, VA 22314 

United States 

Tel: +1 (703) 299-8484 

Kyoko Kondo (Ms.) 

Membership Secretary ISTT 

3rd Nishimura Bldg., 

2-11-18, Tomioka, Koto-ku, 

Tokyo 135-0047, Japan 

Tel:: +81 (3)5639 9970 

FAX: +81 (3)5639 9975 

Registered Address: 

15 Belgrave Square 

LONDON, SW1X 8PS 

UK 

4

World Wrap 

Contract continued in Canada 

Insituform Technologies, has been awarded an additional 

$US 6 million in sewer pipe rehabilitation work for the City 

of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Insituform expects to perform 

approximately 90,000 feet of small- and medium- diameter 

sanitary sewer lining under this contract award. Work on the 

project is currently underway and should be completed within 

twelve months. 

Terra Solutions expands tunnelling division 

Terra Solutions will invest in excess of £2.1 million to acquire and 

expand the drilling and tunnelling division of environmental services 

firm McAllister Brothers. Terra Solutions was established to specialise 

in tunnelling and pipe jacking for the laying of water, gas, sewerage, 

drainage and oil pipelines, as well as for laying telecommunications 

cables. 

Saving with HDD 

The Haarbach District Authority in Bavaria 

Germany is constructing a 7.2 km waste 

water disposal system using HDD. The 

trenchless solution is 30 per cent less 

expensive than the open cut alternative. 

Renewal in Mumbai 

The City of Mumbai, in an effort to develop the urban 

infrastructure and keep pace with rapid population 

growth, is working to improve the quality of the water 

supply and to upgrade the ageing and overloaded 

sewer networks. As part of the upgrade TT-UK and 

contracting partner KEPL of Bangalore are undertaking 

the replacement and renewal of 17 kms of existing 

clayware sewer pipes. 

NEWS 


SSC credits construction 

professionals 

The Specialised Services Company 

(SSC) trenchless training program 

now offers continuing education 

credits to construction professionals. 

Each session in the 12 month 

series focuses on a different trenchless 

application. Participants are 

provided a case-based learning 

experience that explores topics 

such as horizontal auger boring, 

HDD, and pipe ramming/bursting. 

HDD record on VNG 

A HDD record has been set on the 

Virginia Natural Gas (VNG) project 

Elizabeth River crossing that will link 

Norfolk to Newport News under the 

Hampton Roads harbour in the United 

States. Contractors Mears Group, 

Weeks Marine and Bradford Brothers 

installed 2.2 km of 24 inch diameter 

steel pipeline under the Elizabeth 

River reaching a maximum depth of 

33 metres. 

Sales for Singapore 

The Urban Infrastructure & Environmental Products 

Company of Sekisui Chemical Corporation has established 

Sekisui CPT Asia, a sales company of pipeline 

rehabilitation business, in Singapore where demand is 

expected to increase in the future. The company will be 

engaged in sales of pipeline rehabilitation materials and 

machinery in the Asian region as well as supervision and 

technical support of construction partners. 

NEWS April 2009 - Trenchless International 

6 

7

Pipes & People 

Prime Horizontal 

pipes & people 


8 

Vale Gary Vermeer 

Founder and Chairman Emeritus of 

Vermeer Corporation Gary Vermeer passed 

away on 2 February 2009 at 90 years of 

age. 

Mr Vermeer and a cousin started the business 

in 1948, after inventing a wagon hoist 

five years earlier, which made it easier to 

unload corn. Demand for the labour-saving 

device from his neighbours prompted him 

to open Vermeer Manufacturing Company. 

From that small operation, the company 

has grown over the past 60 years to an 

international organisation that manufactures 

agricultural, construction, environmental, 

and industrial equipment. Today, Vermeer 

Corporation has industrial dealerships in 

over 60 countries and on every continent 

except Antarctica. 

Moles Awards Herrenknecht 

US heavy construction industry association 

The Moles has presented the Schwanau 

entrepreneur Martin Herrenknecht with the 

Moles Award 2009. 

Dr Herrenknecht is the first European 

and non-US citizen to be honoured with this 

prize. Dr Herrenknecht was presented with 

the Award in New York on 28 January, in the 

presence of some 2,000 decision-makers 

and representatives of the US heavy construction 

industry, as well as the Governor 

of New Jersey, Jon S Corzine. 

In addition, Dr. Herrenknecht was awarded 

honourary Moles membership. The former 

US President Herbert C Hoover is also 

among those who have been honoured with 

the Moles Award in the past. 

During the ceremony the presenter 

of the Moles Award Committee James 

M Marquardt said that the entrepreneur 

embodies precisely what Americans highly 

respect, “a competitive spirit, willingness to 

tackle difficult projects and the perseverance 

to see them through to a successful 

conclusion”. 

Mr Marquardt went on to say that Dr 

Herrenknecht was receiving the award for 

his extraordinary service to the heavy construction 

industry, and in particular for his 

efforts in the development and innovation of 

Trenchless Technology and for the establishment 

and development of a world-renowned 

mechanical engineering enterprise. 

Paul Nicholas joins Akkerman Inc. 

Paul Nicholas will hold the position of International Marketing Manager for Akkerman 

Inc, increasing Akkerman sales overseas for all lines of equipment with a focus on microtunnelling 

systems. 

Mr Nicolas has a 22 year career in 

Trenchless Technology and international 

sales and marketing experience. Prior 

to joining Akkerman he held the position 

of General Manager of The Robbins 

Company SBU division. 

Akkerman Vice President of Sales and 

Marketing, Rob Tumbleson said “We are 

excited about the potential opportunities 

in store for Akkerman with Paul coming on 

board. Having an international presence 

has been a long-time goal for our team.” 

He is survived by his wife, Matilda, and 

three children and their spouses, Stanley and 

Alma Vermeer, Robert and Lois Vermeer, 

and Mary and Dale Andringa, eight grandchildren, 

and nine great grandchildren. 

Performing for Permaform 

APM Permaform President Bill Shook 

has announced the appointment of 

Steve Henning as Manager – Technical 

Development of its Eastern Region. 

APM is a provider of technology, equipment 

and material for trenchless repairing, 

rebuilding and replacing of underground 

sanitary and storm water structures. Mr 

Henning has been in the trenchless rehabilitation 

industry for over ten years, is a 

past director of NASSCO and has served 

on the board of directors of the Gulf Coast 

Trenchless Association. 

Mr Shook said “He brings experience, 

knowledge and energy to APM. He is a 

proven contributor to our industry and a 

tireless crusader for higher standards." 

Drain Doctor to treat Portugal 

Drain Doctor Plumbing, the UK’s largest 

plumbing and drain repair service, 

has appointed Francisco José Ferreira 

São Vicente as Operations Manager for 

Portugal to help build its first business 

venture in mainland Europe. 

Drain Doctor Director Jan Mitman said 

“Once the structure is in place Francisco 

will employ a group of technicians to 

cover all aspects of Drain Doctor’s service 

to deal with plumbing, drainage, relining 

and CCTV. He will initially cover the whole 

of the Algarve region. When the operation 

is as successful as we are sure it is going 

to be he will start franchising the system in 

the rest of Portugal.” 

Mr Vicente said “The plumbing and 

drainage systems in Portugal are very 

similar to those in the UK, but we do not 

have CCTV and no dig drainage technology 

in Portugal so this will give us a 

great competitive advantage. For example, 

drain lining will allow us to complete 

repairs without having to dig up our customers’ 

drains.” 

Unexcelled Accuracy 

HDD Guidance services for 

Intersects and Drilled Crossings 

using ParaTrack 

Please see our paper #F-1-04 

ProData Rig Data Display & Transmission System 

1 April, 2009, in the HDD & Challenging Conditions Track. 

NAS T T 

2009 International No-Dig Show 

29 March - 3 April 2009 

Sheraton Centre, Toronto, Canada 

Prime Horizontal Companies 

In Holland: +31 (0)251 271 790 

In USA: 1-570-675-0901 

visit our website: www.primehorizontal.com

news 


News in Brief 

English privates go public 

Approximately 200,000 km of privately 

owned sewers and lateral drains in 

England will be transferred to water and 

sewerage companies from 2011. 

Currently, if a private sewer or lateral 

drain needs repairing, the bill is picked 

up by householders, even if the problem 

is outside their property boundary. 

Most householders don’t even know the 

sewer or drain is their responsibility as it 

is not apparent when buying a property, 

and their insurance policies are unlikely 

to cover wear and tear. 

Environment Secretary Hilary Benn 

said “Millions of householders are unwittingly 

sitting on the ticking financial 

time bomb of private sewers and lateral 

drains. They may not realise it, but if 

something goes wrong they have to pick 

up the bill. The transfer to water and 

sewerage companies will create a fairer 

system for all and save many households 

the agony of finding thousands of 

pounds to pay for repairs.” 

It is estimated that well over half 

of all houses in England have a private 

sewer or lateral drain, the part of 

a drain that lies outside the property 

boundary. An extensive review of private 

sewers began in 2001, prompted 

by the concerns of householders and 

a consultation in 2003 revealed a high 

level of support for transfer. The costs 

of transfer will be met by an increase in 

the sewerage element of bills across the 

nine sewerage companies currently 

estimated to be around 7.5 pence to 23 

pence a week. 

Before the transfer can take place, the 

government has to introduce and consult 

on regulations and follow Parliamentary 

process. The water and sewage companies 

will then have to draw up schemes 

for the transfer of private sewers in their 

regions. 

Private sewers stem from an arrangement 

that dates from 1936, before that 

time the 1875 Public Health Act had 

made all sewers public. The 1936 Public 

Health Act meant sewers were only public 

if they were already in place, laid or 

adopted by a sewerage undertaker. 

B.C. – new life for old pipes 

The City of Victoria in British Columbia, 

Canada has begun rehabilitating an integral 

part of the city’s water transmission 

system, renewing 4,500 metres of highpressure 

steel pipes, ranging in diameter 

from 20 cm – 1 metre. 

The $US4.4 million pipe contract has 

been awarded to Insituform Technologies. 

The company will complete the work in 26 

installations, using a close-fit polyethylene 

solution for water pipe renewal. Work began 

in late November 2008 and is expected to 

be completed in August 2009. 

The City of Victoria has a history of promoting 

environmentally sound practices. In 

addition to Insituform’s minimally disruptive 

and environmentally friendly method of 

rehabilitating transmission mains, the city 

has also retained a professional arborist to 

help protect the trees on the job site. 

Robbins receives medal for TBM 

Development 

In April 2009, Richard J. Robbins, 

President and CEO of The Robbins 

Company from 1958 to 1993, will accept the 

Benjamin Franklin Medal for Engineering. 

Mr Robbins is being honoured for a lifetime 

of innovation underground — developing 

TBMs for some of the largest tunnelling 

projects in history. 

The Franklin Institute Awards have been 

ongoing for 185 years, and continue to 

recognise the greatest men and women in 

science, engineering and technology. Mr 

Robbins said “When I reflect on the process 

of the award, and the fact that only 

one engineer is picked per year, I am truly 

honoured and amazed.” 

Mr Robbins’ father developed the first 

rock tunnel boring machine in 1952 and 

founded The Robbins Company, which 

is now a worldwide business with representation 

in over 25 countries. Richard 

Robbins has been responsible for leading 

or creating the company’s subsequent 

innovations, from large diameter hard rock 

disc cutters to the first Double Shield TBM 

for Italy’s Orichella Project in 1972. 

“One of the most memorable projects 

I’ve worked on is the Channel Tunnel. 

We designed machines that successfully 

bored through water-bearing ground at 10 

bar pressure — a much higher pressure 

than had ever been done before,” said Mr 

Robbins. The 39 km (24 mi) long Channel 

Tunnel was completed in 1991, following 

the use of five Robbins shielded TBMs 

placing precast concrete segments. 

Another career highlight was a machine 

developed for the RER metro system 

in Paris, France in 1965. “We created 

the world’s first below water, pressure 

bulkhead shielded machine using air 

pressure.” 

Richard Robbins continues to work in 

the tunnelling industry as a member of 

the Board of Directors of The Robbins 

Company and as a collaborator in development 

projects. He sees much work to 

be done in the future. 

Communicating below the surface 

Telecommunications company, Eastern 

Communications will install a 240 km fibre 

network to service industrial parks and 

economic zones in the Philippines, using 

HDD to minimise traffic disruptions. 

Eastern Communications representative 

Edwin Domingo said “Eastern's backhaul 

expansion will provide us with three 

business opportunities. Primarily, we will 

provide connectivity to more than 600 ecozones 

and industrial parks along the route 

where the backhaul will run. Secondarily, 

it will allow the company to maximise the 

submarine cables because of the additional 

bandwidth, and thirdly, it will allow us 

to offer greater bandwidth to other carriers 

and telecommunications companies.” 

Multinational corporations and BPOs are 

relocating to various economic zones and 

industrial parks located in Tagaytay, Cavite, 

Laguna, and Batangas. The expansion will 

also reach Nasugbu, enabling the company 

to connect to its submarine cables. 

Surprises lead to delays, delays lead to cost 

overruns. So work with a team that keeps nasty 

surprises away from you, your schedule, and 

your budget. At Mears, our in-house planners 

and engineers look deeper, to plan farther 

ahead. And, our field operators have both 

Trenchless success in the Middle East 

Trenchless Middle East 2009, held 

in Dubai’s Jumeirah Beach Conference 

and Exhibition Centre, has been heralded 

as a success by the ISTT and 

conference delegates. 

Trenchless Middle East, the fifth event 

in this biennial series, was complemented 

by the ISTT Masterclass, which 

attracted 40 participants from several 

Middle Eastern countries including the 

UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Oman, as well 

as attendees from Russia, Bulgaria and 

the United Kingdom. 

ISTT Executive Secretary John 

Hemphill said “The Masterclass format 

seems ideal for getting the message on 

Trenchless Technology to regions of the 

world where we have no affiliated societies 

and to affiliated societies that have a 

need for trenchless training but may not 

be in a position to host an ISTT No-Dig.” 

The conference provided an opportunity 

for specialist companies from around 

the world to display their equipment 

and services for the installation, repair 

and refurbishments of utility companies, 

engineers, consultants, planners, and 

traffic authorities. 

GSTT Executive Director, Dr Klaus Beyer; John Hemphill, show-organiser 

Caroline Prescott of Westrade, GSTT Chairman Professor Jens Hölterhoff and 

Dr Dec Downey at the German Pavillion at Trenchless Middle East. 

Mears horizontal directional drilling. Because a lot can 

happen between Point A and Point B. 

the expertise and the equipment to implement 

any plan, in any place. 

We listen. We plan. We deliver. So the only 

thing that happens, is success. Give us a call 

at (800) 632-7727. 

DESIGN/BUILD • SOIL AND ROCK • SMALL TO LARGE CROSSINGS • SHORE APPROACHES 

Mears Group, Inc. • 411 North Sam Houston Parkway East, Suite 420 • Houston, TX 77060 USA • www.mears.net 

news 


10 

11

Trenchless in Toronto 

The 2009 International No-Dig Conference and Exhibition is set 

to be the premier trenchless event of the year. The No-Dig Show, 

endorsed by the ISTT and the NASTT, is the largest Trenchless 

Technology event in North America. 

Look out for the Trenchless International 

magazine team at the No-Dig exhibition. 

Meet Sales Representative Brett 

Thompson, Associate Editor Kate 

Pemberton and Editor Chris Bland. 

istt news 


The conference and exhibition will 

be held from 29 March to 3 April at the 

Sheraton Centre in Toronto, Canada. The 

event combines an extensive technical 

program, exhibition hall and networking 

and social activities for the nearly 2,000 

trenchless professionals expected to 

attend from around the world. 

The event attracts decision-makers from 

utilities, engineers, contractors, manufacturers 

and suppliers, who are there to do 

business in the one forum that is dedicated 

to exclusively promoting Trenchless 

Technology. 

Program Chair Joe Loiacono said 

“Together we will explore the new methods 

and techniques available that will help you 

save money and improve infrastructure in 

your cities, towns and municipalities using 

trenchless methods.” 

Delegates will have the opportunity to 

choose between a five track technical 

component, which runs from Monday 30 

March to Wednesday 1 April. Over 140 

technical papers will be presented by 

trenchless experts from North America, 

Brazil, Denmark, China, France, Germany, 

Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, 

South Africa, the United Kingdom, India, 

Peru and Taiwan. 

The technical papers cover all aspects 

of the industry including machinery, 

rehabilitation, inspection, asset management, 

leak detection, the environment 

and sustainability. The conference will 

cover all utilities that benefit from trenchless 

solutions including electrical, gas, 

telecommunications, sewer/wastewater 

and water. 

The 50,000 square foot exhibit area 

will showcase a wide range of 

trenchless vendors – from 

manufacturers of microtunnelling 

and pipe bursting 

equipment to suppliers 

of coatings and linings 

materials. 

In addition to the informative presentations 

and exhibition hall, Mr Loiacono said 

that the Program Committee has worked 

diligently to offer an educational yet fun 

program with plenty of opportunities for 

networking, industry awards and recognition 

and entertaining events. 

Networking, industry awards and 

entertainment 

Both the ISTT and NASTT events are 

renowned for their strong social programs, 

and Toronto 2009 is no different. 

Arrive a day early to enjoy the majesty 

of Niagara Falls. Alternatively, delegates 

can attend an introduction to Trenchless 

Technology short course covering new 

construction techniques and rehabilitation 

methods. There are also a range of 

post-conference seminars to improve your 

trenchless knowledge. 

The conference will kick off with 

the Monday morning breakfast featuring 

entertainment and delicious food. 

Special events will be the presentation of 

Trenchless Technology Person of the Year 

and the comedic stylings of Glen Foster. 

The NASTT 8th Annual Educational 

Fund Auction will be held in the evening, 

promising fundraising in a friendly environment. 

The Gala Awards Dinner will be held 

Tuesday evening. The dinner provides 

an opportunity to socialise with industry 

personnel in a relaxed atmosphere. The 

winners of the 2008 Trenchless Technology 

Projects of the Year in rehabilitation and 

new installations will be recognised in a 

special awards ceremony, as well as the 

ISTT Gold Medal. The ISTT Gold Medal 

is awarded to individuals for outstanding 

and exceptional contributions in the field 

of Trenchless Technology. The Society will 

recognise a truly deserving individual at 

the Gala Dinner. This is only the fifth time 

in the 23 year history of the Society that 

the ISTT has presented the Gold Medal. 

And the winner is… 

Project of the Year: new 

installation 

Portland Oregon, East Side 

CSO Project (featured in 

Trenchless International 

October issue) 

This project involved the 

installation of approximately 

3,000 ft (910 metres) of 84-inch 

(2 metres) ID concrete pipe in a 

single drive under challenging 

conditions. 

ISTT Innovative 

Technology Award for 

new installation 

DCI DigiTrak F2 Locating 

System 

The DigiTrak F2 is a novel 

three dimensional field-view 

directional drilling locating 

system with a single button 

user interface and graphically 

driven menu. 

ISTT Innovative 

Technology Award for 

pipe rehabilitation 

Aqualiner is launching a 

revolutionary patented 

thermoplastic in-situ lining 

system for both potable 

water and sewer applications. 

Aqualiner’s process involves 

forming a thin walled, high 

strength, standalone liner 

in glass fibre reinforced 

polypropylene, which is an inert 

material, easy to install with a 

long shelf life and avoids the 

need to use chemical based 

resins. 

TT Technologies to exhibit at Toronto No-Dig – Booth 705 

Trenchless equipment manufacturer, TT Technologies, will display the 

Grundotugger lateral pipe bursting system and Grundodrill 4X compact 

directional drill rig at the No-Dig show. 

The trenchless equipment is also marketed in Europe by Tracto-Technik 

GmbH, Germany; part of the TT Worldwide Group. 

The Grundotugger bursts and replaces sewer laterals of up to 45.7 metres quickly and easily, without costly restoration 

or disruption. The lightweight Grundotugger includes everything needed for bursting 10.16 to 15.24 cm laterals, upsize or 

size for size including bursting heads, winch cable unit and a power pack, and pipe fusion equipment. 

The compact Grundodrill 4X is ideal for the installation of conduit for power and FTTP applications. The Grundodrill 

4X offers 4,445 kg of thrust and pullback. Using the compact drill is less intrusive and ideal for areas where larger 

units are not an option. The drill features a dual hydrostatic pump system and a four-auger stake down system that 

provides greater stability. 

Innovators in Trenchless since 1962 

Most Accurate Piercing Tools · Most Powerful Rams · Hardest Burst · Best Equipment 

The RIgHT Technical Support Keeps 

The WROng Things From Happening 

TRACTO-TECHNIK GmbH & Co. KG · P.O. Box 4020 · D 57356 Lennestadt 

Phone: +49 2723 808110 · Email: export@tracto-technik.de · www.tracto-technik.com 

45 Years of 

Experience 

ISTT news 


12 

13

Trenchless City: preserving 

the environment 

Hosted by the FSTT, the seventh Ville Sans Tranchée (VST) 2009 will take place from 16-18 June in 

Rosny-sous-Bois in Paris. Following on from the international No-Dig 2009 in Toronto, VST looks set 

to be a comprehensive, informative and dynamic event. 

The VST event, Trenchless City, has 

grown steadily over time, and this year will 

see approximately 100 exhibitors – compared 

with 60 in 2005 and 80 in 2007 – from 

France and around the world, including 

project owners and managers, businesses, 

suppliers, and equipment companies. 

VST is the foremost French National 

exhibition devoted purely to trenchless 

works and technology. The event provides 

answers for those seeking information 

regarding methods of pipeline installation, 

repair and replacement that are less invasive 

then open cut methods. Trenchless 

Technology is less disruptive to residents 

and business. Furthermore, the projects 

are carried out more quickly and more 

safely. 

One of the unique characteristics of VST 

is that it combines booths under a huge 

marquee structure, and equipment demonstrations 

outside on the Rosny-sous-Bois 

stage. Technical managers of local groups 

and communities, as well as elected representatives, 

will appreciate being able to 

see microtunnellers and pipe-bursters in 

action. 

Trenchless trophies 

For the third time at the VST, the FSTT 

will award the ‘trenchless trophies’, 

recognising the top innovative achievements 

and initiatives in trenchless works 

and projects. Open to businesses, local 

bodies, and students/researchers, the 

competition will reward the best projects 

from these categories, and will also recognise 

the trenchless Person of the Year. 

This last award honours an individual who 

has had a marked impact on the French 

trenchless industry. 

Founded in 1990, the FSTT is a professional 

association, of both a scientific 

and technical nature, that primarily seeks 

to promote awareness and disseminate 

practical knowledge about trenchless 

techniques, as well as advancing research 

and training in the area. 

Promoting a trenchless environment 

In gearing up for the VST, the FSTT 

recently exhibited at a massive international 

environmental expo to raise 

awareness of the importance and various 

benefits of Trenchless Technology. The 

FSTT said that the great success of the 

recent Pollutec Horizons event, held in 

Lyon, was great news and bodes well for 

the VST. Pollutec Horizons is an annual 

international exhibition of equipment, technology 

and environmental services. 

Over the four-day exhibition, many people 

visited the FSTT booth, allowing the 

Society to communicate to people, who 

were either completely uninformed or 

knew very little about the sector, just how 

and why trenchless solutions are beneficial 

to the planet. The trenchless industry 

was well represented at the event, with a 

number of FSTT members in attendance, 

such as Sade, Tracto Technic, CMR-MSR, 

Hydrovideo, SET, and Serpolet among 

others. 

Afterwards, organisers said that the 

event had received 73,668 visitors, the first 

time that attendees had exceeded 70,000. 

International visitors comprised 11.4 per 

cent of the total attendance, with 8,422 

professionals of 110 different nationalities. 

The next Pollutec Horizons event will be 

held in Paris from 1-4 December 2009, 

focusing on the environment and sustainable 

development. 

Population boom good sign for 

trenchless 

A recent French survey – and perhaps 

reflective of other parts of the world – 

conducted by the French Institution for 

Statistics and Economic Studies showed 

that approximately 60 per cent of the population 

is centralised around urban hubs; 

27.7 per cent living in the city centres, and 

32.5 per cent in the surrounding suburbs. 

Population inevitably equals a growing 

need for more installation, repair/ 

rehabilitation and maintenance of underground 

pipeline networks. This increasing 

demand, together with the necessity for 

durable developments, requires works 

that reduce: 

• Pollution 

• Noise 

• Carbon emissions 

• and, environmental disruption. 

All of this provides the ideal context 

for the increasing use and popularity of 

Trenchless Technology, which meets all 

of the above needs and more. 

Translated by Michelle Perl. 

IDS_high_res_HPH.pdf 25/2/09 9:48:58 AM 

1.4 

1.2 

1.0 

0.8 

0.6 

0.4 

0.2 

0.0 

0.0 

Rural 

1999-2006 

1982-1999 

0.7 

0.3 

Urban 

0.5 

1.2 

1.3 

Suburban 

After decreasing, and then remaining constant, the rural population has 

been steadily increasing at a rate of 0.7 per cent annually. 

1999-2 

1982-1 

istt news 

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14 

15

Events 

ISTT International No Dig 2009 

Toronto, Canada 

29 March – 3 April 2009 

www.nodigshow.com 

Wasser Berlin 2009 

Berlin, Germany 

30 March – 3 April 2009 

www.wasser-berlin.de 

PFTT celebrates 

ten years 

The Polish Foundation for Trenchless Technology (PFTT) has 

recently celebrated its ten year anniversary. 

Remembering a 

trenchless Pioneer 

The life and contribution of Dr Satoru Tohyama, a Trenchless 

Technology pioneer in Japan and the ISTT, is remembered by 

friend and colleague Ted Flaxman. 

istt news 


UKSTT Awards Dinner 

Birmingham, UK 

24 April 2009 

www.ukstt.org.uk 

CityPipe 2009 

Moscow, Russia 

26 – 29 May 2009 

www.citypipe.ru 

Ville Sans Tranchée (VST ) / 

Trenchless City 

Paris, France 

16 – 18 June 2009 

www.fstt.org 

SWE Japan 

Tokyo, Japan 

June 2009 

www.jswa.jp/ 

Modern Trenchless Technologies 

Ukraine 

June 2009 

www.no-dig.odessa.ua 

Engineering 2009 

Tomaszowice, Poland 

16 - 18 June 2009 

www.i-b.pl/conference/ 

DT Exhibition 2009 

Cheltenham, UK 

16 – 17 September 2009 

www.dtexhibition.com 

Trenchless Australasia 2009 

Melbourne Park, Melbourne, 

Australia 

20 - 22 September 2009 

www.trenchless2009.com 

ICUEE 2009 

Louisville, USA 

6 – 8 October 2009 

www.icuee.com 

International Pipelines and 

Trenchless Technology 

Conference 

Shanghai, China 

18 – 21 October 2009 

www.icptt.org 

over the last decade, the PFTT has 

succeeded in achieving its central purpose 

of promoting the use of Trenchless 

Technology in Poland. The PFTT is very 

active at both a national and international 

level. The foundation is one of the 

co-organisers of the Polish No-Dig conference; 

an international event held every 

second year in Kielce. The next conference, 

themed Trenchless Technologies 

in Environmental Engineering No-Dig 

Poland 2010, will be held in April 2010. 

The founder of the PFTT was Per 

Aarsleff Polska Director Arkadiusz 

Bachan. The foundation’s first Chairman 

was Jerzy Adamski, also a Chairman 

of Kielce Waterworks. Following Mr 

Adamski, Marek Banasik led the PFTT. 

For the last three years its Chairman has 

been Andrzej Kuliczkowski (pictured). 

The PFTT was awarded the 2008 

No-Dig Award in the Academic Category 

for organising a twelve month course 

in Trenchless Technology. This year, in 

conjunction with the Kielce University 

of Technology, the PFTT will offer an 

international post graduate course from 

the 2 to the 22 September (See Issue 2 

Trenchless International). 

To encourage the study of trenchless 

solutions, the foundation grants an 

annual award for the best master thesis 

involving Trenchless Technology. The 

PFTT also supports various initiatives 

including two polish magazines, trade 

fairs and conferences through the generous 

support of council and supporting 

members. 

The ten year anniversary was commemorated 

with the presentation of 

PFTT Chairman Andrzej Kuliczkowski. 

From left Dec Downey, Jerzy Adamski, 

Arkadiusz Bachan and Andrzej 

Kuliczkowski. 

Jubilee Expert statuettes. The statuettes 

were awarded to Arkadiusz Bachan 

and Jerzy Adamski for their personal 

contribution to the foundation and development 

of the PFTT. The Jubilee Expert 

was also granted to ISTT Chairman Dec 

Downey for his outstanding activity in 

promoting Trenchless Technology at an 

international level. 

Polish Foundation for Trenchless Technology 

akulicz@tu.kielce.pl www.pftt.pl 

Although it was more than 20 years 

ago, I well remember my first meeting 

with Dr Tohyama. It took place in London 

on 15 April 1985, on a River Thames 

boat where we had arranged a dinner for 

Chairmen and Authors of papers on the 

evening before the opening of No-Dig 

85. I was immediately impressed by two 

things about him. First, his friendliness 

and easy approachability and secondly, 

the great respect in which he was 

obviously held by the other Japanese 

delegates present, who clearly knew 

him well. 

That was an important meeting for me. 

It led to a long and very fruitful friendship 

which, sadly, came to an end recently 

with Dr Tohyama’s death. The news of 

his death must have saddened a great 

many people, both in Japan and various 

other countries round the world, who 

had come to know him during his long 

and distinguished career. I am grateful 

for this opportunity to put on record my 

appreciation of his major contribution to 

the trenchless initiative worldwide. 

Even before we met, he had shown 

his keen interest and strong support for 

the first No-Dig event. He had submitted 

a paper on Microtunnelling in Japan, 

which we felt to be so important that he 

was asked to present it during the opening 

session of the Conference. Also, he 

had brought to England a party of 30 

from Japan – the largest overseas delegation 

at the Conference. During the 

closing session of the Conference, the 

formation of an international society was 

proposed. The support of the Japanese 

delegates and of Dr Tohyama in particular, 

was a great encouragement. 

We kept in touch and in October 1986 

I had an opportunity to visit Tokyo. It 

was typical of Dr Tohyama that although 

my plane arrived in Tokyo more than 

12 hours late – due to a mishap before 

leaving Heathrow – he nevertheless met 

me at the airport in the evening and conveyed 

me to my hotel. The following day 

we had very useful discussions about 

the newly formed ISTT and about the 

next event planned for London, No-Dig 

Dr Satoru Tohyama. 

87. He also arranged for me to pay visits 

to the Iseki Poly factory and, when 

I moved on to Singapore, to several 

microtunnelling construction sites. 

In 1987, Dr Tohyama again led a 

major delegation to the No-Dig event in 

London, and it was in that year that the 

ISTT really began to develop as an international 

organisation. Plans were agreed 

for holding No-Dig 88 in Washington DC, 

in collaboration with the American Water 

Pollution Control Federation. Dr Tohyama 

accepted an invitation to become Vice- 

President of the ISTT in recognition of 

the key role that he was already playing 

in the Society’s development worldwide. 

He again led a substantial Japanese 

delegation to the Washington DC event 

and it was there that the first tentative 

discussions took place about the formation 

of National Societies that would be 

affiliated to the ISTT. The Netherlands 

Society was created first and Japan 

soon followed with the JSTT, which was 

formed with a splendid initial membership 

of more than 150 in April 1989, with 

Dr Tohyama as its Chairman. 

This led to proposals for an 

International No-Dig event to be held in 

Osaka in 1990, organised jointly by the 

JSTT and ISTT. The Executive Secretary 

of the ISTT Col Jon Sutro and I visited 

Japan in February 1990 and were much 

impressed by the arrangements proposed 

by Dr Tohyama and his team. 

When the event took place in October 

of that year, it attracted the largest 

number of attendees for any No-Dig 

to date – just over 1,000 – and also 

included the presentation of the largest 

number of papers to date. 

When it was over we had a special 

‘round-up’ meeting of those who had 

been involved in organising this highly 

successful event, followed by a dinner. 

It was not a large gathering and it was 

very informal, but I remember it well. At 

the conclusion of the meal Dr Tohyama 

invited me to say a few words and in my 

response I emphasised how pleasing 

it was that two teams of people from 

very different cultural and historic backgrounds 

had collaborated so easily, 

that our common interest in promoting 

Trenchless Technology had enabled us 

to work so well together. As we parted, 

he shook me repeatedly by the hand 

with a warmth that I am sure echoed 

his own pride that the first International 

No-Dig in Asia had been such a fine 

achievement. 

We met repeatedly after that, in many 

different parts of the world. He attended 

every International No-Dig in places as 

diverse as Paris, Hamburg, New Orleans, 

Copenhagen, Dresden, Taipei, Prague, 

Birmingham, Genoa, Perth and Budapest, 

always leading a substantial Japanese 

delegation and always ensuring that 

papers were presented illustrating the 

steady progress of the technology in 

Japan. We also met on other occasions, 

such as Lord Nugent’s lunches in London, 

and even — by chance — occasionally in 

airport lounges. When an International 

Committee was set up in the early days, 

Dr Tohyama was one of the founding 

members and when the International 

Board was established a few years later 

he became one of the small team, which 

during his lifetime grew to a board of 

more than 20 directors. His contribution 

to the ISTT was so outstanding that it 

was recognised first with a Gold Medal in 

1995 and then in 1998 when he accepted 

an invitation to become the ISTT’s first 

and only President. 

Drafting this note about Dr Tohyama 

has brought back a flood of memories. 

His dedication to golf; the friendly presence 

of his wife during many of the early 

No-Digs; his chairmanship of Working 

Group No 3 on microtunnelling, which 

produced several excellent reports; and 

the quiet way in which he would interject 

sound ideas into the Board’s discussions. 

He was a wonderful man and a 

great civil engineer. It was a pleasure 

and a privilege to have known him. 

istt news 


16 

17

SPECIAL FEATURE 


Made in China 

by Kate Pemberton 

The global HDD market is a dynamic and expanding area. A new innovative market emerging from 

the east is set to challenge the dominance of the traditional manufacturers. 

The prolonged and extensive 

period of construction growth in China 

has enabled the country’s huge cities to 

modernise utilities such as water, wastewater, 

and telecommunications. Above 

ground construction has been achieved 

so rapidly that in many of China’s populous 

cities no-dig construction is the only 

practical method to install and repair the 

necessary supporting infrastructure. 

The use of HDD has been a factor in 

the development of a growing export 

market. Despite the slow down in China’s 

growth rates, the trenchless industry continues 

to gain momentum domestically. 

Chinese companies are finding success 

exporting machinery such as HDD rigs to 

the rest of the world. 

The HDD market 

In the past Chinese ‘knock-offs’ have 

been dismissed as unreliable, based on 

quality concerns. However, international 

partnerships, increased technological 

capability and lower costs are combining 

to create a market for the Chinese 

product. 

HDD Broker General Manager Bob 

Martin spoke to Trenchless International 

regarding the international HDD market. 

Mr Martin said that historically the 

North American market has been unwilling 

to accept Chinese manufactured 

equipment. Mr Martin said “Even the 

Chinese do not readily accept their own 

equipment, acknowledging the quality 

shortcomings and instead opt for the 

much more expensive US-manufactured 

drills.” 

However, this situation is changing. 

The impact of the global financial crisis 

is reverberating around the world. 

Project managers are looking for ways to 

cut costs while still maintaining the high 

standards expected in the industry. 

The economic downturn is not the sole 

reason for the increase of exports of 

Chinese manufactured drills. Mr Martin 

said there has been a marked increase 

in the quality of the Chinese product. 

“Demand for cheaper, simpler machines 

is increasing at a very fast pace as 

the demand for work remains constant 

but the money available to purchase 

decreases,” he explained. 

Chinese rig manufacturers exhibiting 

at the Mosow International No-Dig 

2008. 

East meets west 

HDD rigs have been manufactured in 

China for over a decade. The Chinese 

domestic market has grown as people discover 

the benefits of trenchless solutions. 

Professional relationships between non- 

Chinese and Chinese companies have also 

encouraged an improvement in the quality 

and production capabilities of Chinese 

machinery manufacturers. 

Hanlyma, founded in 2003, is one of 

China’s leading manufacturers of HDD rigs. 

Hanlyma spokesperson Jerry Liang said 

that rapid growth and strong branding has 

culminated in the company supplying 30 

per cent of the domestic market. 

The first American HDD rig was imported 

into China in 1988. Ten years later the first 

Chinese rig was created. Mr Liang said 

that prior to 2003, 90 per cent of the HDD 

market was shared between prominent 

international companies including Vermeer, 

Ditch Witch and Case. 

Mr Liang said that over the last five years 

Chinese rigs have come to dominate the 

Chinese domestic market, accounting for 

almost 95 per cent of market share. 

There are currently more than 200 contractors 

engaged in trenchless construction 

in China, using more than 2,000 HDD rigs, 

approximately 700 of which were introduced 

in 2007 with the biggest HDD rig in 

the world now in China. 

As the quality of the rigs available has 

improved, Chinese companies have begun 

to find success on the global stage. Mr 

Liang said that Chinese HDD machines 

are well priced to compete in the international 

market with high quality technological 

capabilities. In 2008, Hanlyma exported 

112 rigs, or approximately 44 per cent of 

their product. 

Another concern levelled at Chinese 

HDD manufacturers in the past is a lack 

of after sales service. Hanylama is currently 

focused on increasing the quality of 

after sales service. To facilitate expansion 

and service capabilities, the company has 

sales and service centres in countries 

including Australia, Russia, India, Malaysia 

and Turkey. The feedback from international 

customers had been positive. Mr 

Liang said that customers were satisfied 

by the good performance and quality of 

the Chinese built machines and the level of 

service available. 

In addition, Chinese companies are now 

endeavouring to increase their international 

presence through attending Trenchless 

conferences such as the Moscow No-Dig 

Conference 2008 and the Trenchless 

Australasia Conference September 2009. 

International perspectives and relationships 

We asked Mr Martin how he thinks people 

perceive the quality of Chinese rigs, 

“Not surprisingly, there are two qualities 

that seem to pervade the perception of 

Chinese equipment, those being ‘cheap’ 

and ‘low quality’. 

“Interestingly, from my own research and 

experience with newer Chinese manufactured 

rigs, I would only partially agree with 

those statements,” he said. 

Mr Martin concurred with Mr Liang’s 

opinion on the technological advancements 

Chinese rig manufacturers have achieved. 

“The more successful Chinese companies 

have made great advances in quality 

control, going so far as to source the major 

components for the HDD drills from North 

America.” Mr Martin listed motors, hydraulic 

components, pups and gearboxes as 

the parts most likely to be sourced from 

outside of China. 

“The resulting machines are more 

expensive than their purebred Chinese 

counterparts; however they offer much of 

the reliability of North American machines 

while still being significantly cheaper.” 

Mr Martin concluded from his research 

that these Chinese rigs are, on average, 

50 per cent less expensive than 

a US-manufactured drill with comparable 

pullback capacity. Mr Martin did acknowledge 

though, that Chinese drills will be 

slower and offer fewer options than the 

major manufacturers. 

The Chinese machines are still in a 

process of building a solid reputation. 

Some Chinese companies, recognising the 

advantages of expertise and longevity, 

have sought to forge partnerships with 

established international companies. 

American companies are taking 

advantage of the increasing technical 

capability and lower manufacturing costs 

of the Chinese HDD manufacturers. 

In May 2008, Charles Machine Works 

(CMW), manufacturer of underground construction 

equipment Ditch Witch, signed 

a joint venture agreement with Tu Xing 

Sun No-Dig Tech of Beijing, China. CMW 

said that Tu Xing Sun is considered to be 

a leader in the manufacture and distribution 

of HDD systems in China. CMW CEO 

Tiffany Sewell-Howard said “This venture 

allows us to strengthen our position in 

China and other emerging markets.” 

The Shanghai Gudeng Construction 

Machinery manufacturing company, specialising 

in HDD, exports to Russia, Ukraine, 

Pakistan, India, Malaysia and Singapore. 

Their HDD technology recently received 

first place in the construction machinery 

branch of the China Quality Association’s 

awards. In order to expand the business, 

the company is establishing a joint venture 

in Malaysia to be called Jiangsu Gudeng 

Construction Machinery Assembly Group. 

The factory will have a production capacity 

of 300 HDD machines and 100 static pulling 

machines per annum. 

Developing the industry 

The development of the industry is also 

being assisted by the development of professional 

organisations. The China Hong 

Kong Society for Trenchless Technology 

or CHKSTT was established in 1999 and is 

one of the societies affiliated with the ISTT. 

Other societies in the Greater China region 

include those in Shanghai (SSTT), Beijing 

(BJSTT), Guangdong (GDSTT), and Taipei 

(CTSTT). 

Chinese HDD companies are beginning 

to produce reliable, cost effective machinery 

for both the domestic and international 

markets. Companies such as Hanlyma are 

focusing on after sales customer service 

and forging mutually beneficial international 

partnerships. 

The export of Chinese manufactured 

HDD rigs is set to continue as companies 

build their brands through improved quality 

for the less complex and less expensive 

machines. 

SPECIAL FEATURE 


18 

19

projects 


Reconstructing pipes 

in Wajima City 

By Masatoshi Kasukawa, Komatsu. Translated by Kyoko Kondo 

In Wajima City, Noto Island Japan, an earthquake caused the destruction of more than 16 km of 

sewer and agricultural pipes. To restore the pipes, a new trenchless technique was applied – the 

IM-Rebirth method can crush and remove existing reinforced concrete pipes and install new pipes 

along the same trajectory. 

The IM-Rebirth solution successfully 

overcame some unexpected 

difficulties to reconstruct approximately 

1.2 km of sewer pipeline, the first pipeeating 

project of this scale to be carried 

out in Japan. 

The entrance of the Wajima city building. 

The flag says “Hang in there!” following the 

earthquake. 

The sewers to be reconstructed were 

located at the end of the downstream, 

immediately before the Monzenmachi 

wastewater management center. The 

pipeline was buried below National Route 

249 at a depth of 4.2 metres down to 6.3 

metres. The Hakkagawa River runs along 

the road and there were many cracks 

observed at the river wall. It was predicted 

that the whole area was affected from 

the ground deformation due to the earthquake. 

Many existing manholes had been 

dislocated due to the water pressure. The 

type of soil was water-bearing stratum, 

which seemed to have increased the 

warping of the ground. Even from above 

ground, it was clear that the sewers had 

suffered displacements. 

Outline of damaged pipes sagging. 

Choosing the right technology 

After considering the level of sagging 

and displacements, CIPP was deemed 

an inappropriate method to restore the 

sewers, therefore the choice was made 

to reconstruct the whole pipe. There were 

two options for reconstruction; open cut 

and trenchless. Open cut was rejected 

as the pipeline was too deep to excavate. 

Moreover, taking into account the ground 

water level and economic efficiency, the 

trenchless method was selected as the 

optimum solution. An alternative was to 

install a pipeline next to the damaged 

pipe using the standard microtunnelling 

method. However, microtunnelling needs 

disposal treatment of the existing sewers 

including removing manholes up to the 1.5 

metre level. Considering all of these factors 

the pipe eating method was selected. 

The types of existing sewers were; 

1. Humes pipe for open cut construction 

2. Humes pipe for microtunnelling construction 

– including stainless steel 

collar 

3. A Humes pipe as a casing pipe – PVC 

pipe of 200 mm diameter was placed 

inside. 

Pipe eating method A, from the current 

reconstruction method listed in the guideline 

issued by Japan Microtunnelling Association, 

was chosen to crush and remove the existing 

damaged pipeline (pictured). 

Reconstruction method 

The IM-Rebirth method 

The IM-Rebirth method is based on 

traditional machines, such as Slim-Ark 

TA50 and the Iron Mole series, which can 

excavate hard cobbles and rocks. The difference 

between these machines and the 

IM-Rebirth method is the cutting head with 

a special cutter, spiral or gear type, which 

can crush the existing reinforced concrete 

pipes and reinforcing steels bars. This 

method not only crushes the existing pipe 

but also removes the pieces. This results 

in a newly installed pipe. The cutter head 

can also crush railroad ties and stainless 

collar used between the pipes. 

The jacking head torque is high enough 

to crush the hard cobbles and rocks 

located around the pipes. The starting 

shaft can be very small. For pipe diameters 

of 250 mm up to 300 mm only a 2 

metre shaft is required, and for pipe diameters 

of 350 mm up to 500 mm a 2.5 metre 

shaft is required. 

A cutting head after the excavation test. 

Reconstruction methods from the 

Japan Microtunnelling Association 

Static crushing and jacking method 

Dynamic crushing and jacking method 

Rotating/ crushing and jacking method 

A type 

B type 

Pull-out and jacking method 

Scope of application 

Existing pipe diameter: up to 1000 mm 

Diameter of new pipe: 250 – 1,000 mm 

Total length: 150 metres – depending on condition 

Existing pipe type: hume pipe, (for open-cut , jacking pipe with SUS 

collar), clay, PVC, PE, FRP 

Ground conditions: standard soil, sand gravel, base rock layer 

Applications: same diameter to same diameter, reducing diameter, 

enlarging diameter, adjusting trajectory. 

Crashed pieces at the test excavation. 

The IM-Rebirth method was selected 

because of the cutter head's ability to 

crush reinforced pipes and SUS (stainless) 

collars. However, as the project 

progressed, it was revealed that a spacer 

of 5 mm thickness was used inside of 

the casing pipe for placing VU 200 mm. 

To negotiate this problem, an excavation 

test was carried out before the 

actual construction commenced. The test 

showed that although the jacking speed 

had slowed down greatly and the cutting 

face was abraded a little from the excavation, 

the machine can drive forward 

despite the presence of the spacer. 

Some parts of sewer were completely 

out of service and temporary bypassing 

was carried out. Several drives were 

progressing at the same time; therefore a 

well-planned bypassing was necessary. 

Bypassing of the current live sewers was 

carried out by using the proven technique 

for long-distance sewers called Mr. Autobypass. 

The Mr. Auto-bypass has working 

records of 17.5 km and out of this record, 

3 – 5 km were bypassed simultaneously 

while constructing several, mainly opencut 

drives. 

Shaft construction 

The existing manholes were damaged 

from liquefaction and needed to be 

replaced. Therefore, the spaces for replacing 

manholes were used as departing and 

arrival shafts. In 300 mm diameter pipes, a 

shaft diameter of 2 metres was used and 

for 350 – 400 mm pipes a shaft diameter 

of 2.5 metres was used, which contributed 

to reduced construction costs. 

Infilling existing pipes 

The existing pipes suffered displacement, 

sagging as well as some 

infiltration of waters and surrounding soils. 

It was anticipated that the area around 

the machine excavation could be a void 

and cave-ins might occur after the construction. 

To avoid this problem, infilling of 

existing pipes was carried out in order to 

prevent cave-ins. The filling material was 

a cement-mortar. 

Removal of pit-head 

The waterproofing equipment and sheet 

piles used for the first installation, buried 

in place, needed to be removed. The 

open-face jacking of 1,000 mm diameter 

was used to remove this equipment at the 

beginning of the drive and then removed 

manually. 

The cutter head 

The cutting head, equipped with the 

special cutter to crush reinforced pipes, 

progressed smoothly along the planned 

paths. At the peak, seven jacking machines 

were driving simultaneously. The crushed 

pipes, taken in by the jacking machine, 

consisted of materials such as reinforced 

steel bars, SUS collars, waterproofing 

rubbers and PVC pieces. Railway ties 

placed below the pipes were also found 

in small pieces. The most difficult section 

of excavating the 400 mm casing Humes 

pipe and 200 mm VU pipe plus spacers 

was carried out successfully, although the 

driving speed did not reach the planned 

rate. The discharged soil was treated as 

industrial waste since it contained steel 

pieces, concrete, VU and others. 

In total, 21 drives were carried out and 

there were no serious problems requiring 

the driving be halted. The special cutter 

equipped at the cutting face had some 

ablation from cutting spacers, but was 

able to continue the drive. 

The pipe eating [and jacking] method 

is normally used to replace aged pipes 

with new pipes. However, this construction 

was carried out to replace existing 

pipes damaged greatly from the earthquake. 

Many of the damaged pipes had 

suffered displacements and sagging and 

some sewers had lost function completely. 

Komatsu’s first pipe-replacing technology 

was achieved in 1995, the time of Great 

Hanshin-Awaji earthquake, proving that 

this method could be used for replacing 

pipes that have experienced large 

displacements. Smooth bypassing had 

also contributed a great deal in making 

the whole reconstruction successful. 

Above: Excavation test. 

Left: A spacer. 

projects 


20 

21

UV light: curing pipe problems 

The advantages of the completely trenchless and fast sewer rehabilitation of the pipe lining with a 

light-curing reaction resin system were demonstrated in a project in Ostertorsteinweg street at the 

edge of the Bremen old town, Germany. 

Upstream – No. 3018 Public sewerage restoration works 

Existing pipe: 300 mm Humes pipe (for open-cut), 350 mm pipe 

jacking Humes pipe, 400 mm diameter jacking Humes pipe for casing, 

200 mm VU inside, 450 mm jacking Humes pipe 

New pipe: 300 mm jacking Humes pipe, 350 mm jacking Humes pipe, 

400 mm jacking Humes pipe for casing (200 mm VU inside) 

Total length: 841.50 metres / 16 drives 

Ground conditions: sand gravel, conglomerate layer, clay and silt 

(contains ground water) 

Damage: breakage, displacement (right to left / up and down), 

sagging, etc. 

Other conditions: railroad ties were placed at the open-cut installed 

Humes pipe/spacers were inserted for casing pipes to install 200 mm 

pipes. 

The street is a promenade, an intensively 

used shopping street and an 

important traffic artery. Frequent tramlines 

travel through the Ostertorsteinweg from 

the early morning into the night. 

The mixed water conduit, up to 6 metres 

below, is as important as the street itself. 

Over 104 years of operation has left its 

mark on the brick oval profile 800/1200. 

Above all, the advanced level of corrosion 

of the brick joints made the sewer 

a rehabilitation project, according to the 

technical assessment of HanseWasser 

(Hamburg Water Works). The goal was a 

long-term preservation of the structure. 

Tight timing 

The concrete project planning was triggered 

by a rehabilitation project on the 

street surface. As the tram rail track of 

the Ostertorsteinweg was up for renewal, 

the opportunity was taken to repair the 

underground assets. The track renewal 

determined the timing of the sewer rehabilitation, 

which would take place in three 

construction sections, according to the 

planning of HanseWasser. While the second 

and third construction section between 

Poststraße, Mozartstraße and Goetheplatz 

would be undertaken when the tram traffic 

had already been suspended. 

The construction of section one between 

Bauernstraße and Poststraße was set for 

roughly one month earlier and had to be 

coordinated with the running tram (ÖPNV) 

operation. This resulted in an extremely 

tight time schedule. To avoid impeding the 

rail traffic, the maximum time frame was 

from Friday 9:00 pm (last tram) to Monday 

3:00 am (first tram). In this corridor, two 

projects 

Much research has been conducted 

on this method. The record 

length achieved by this method stands at 

1.2 km. The Wajima City construction 

case has proven the effectiveness of this 

method, showing the ability to replace 

greatly damaged pipes using trenchless 

solutions. 

This method can also be an optimum 

Above: Liquefaction. 

Left top: The pipe-eating machine. 

Left bottom: Arrival of the cutting head at 

the test. 

method for solving combined sewer 

problems or a new installation due to 

redesigning of the pipe diameter, changing 

the inclination, and more. Komatsu 

continues to conduct research in order to 

solve minor problems found in this construction 

case and hopes that this method 

will be widely recognised as an optimum 

method for replacing reinforced pipe. 

Downstream: No.3019 Public 

sewerage restoration works 

Period 

Existing pipe: 400 mm pipe 

jacking Humes pipe 

New pipe: 400 mm jacking 

Humes pipe 

Total length: 344 metres/ five 

drives 

Ground conditions: sand, 

gravel; containing ground water 

Damage: breakage, 

displacement (right to left/up 

and down), sagging. 

Pipe liner at the start shaft in the Bremen old town. 

projects 


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23

Insertion of the liner takes about three hours. 

Cured liner in the accessible 

oval profile. 

shaft the liner was equipped with pressure 

locks so that it could then be expanded in 

the sewer using compressed air. 

projects 


liners of 32.5 metres and 173.6 metres in 

length had to be installed, including all 

preparatory and related work. 

Light-curing GFRP liner 

The related work included the opening 

of the connection lines that are covered 

up by the liner. This work played a decisive 

role in the selection of the process 

— due to the time factor. The planners 

at HanseWasser decided at the outset 

that only light-curing GFRP liner systems 

were to be considered. With this pipe lining 

variant there is no need to consider 

the reduction of stresses in the liner, 

which can take several days. The lack of 

shrinkage means that there are no axial 

movements and the connections can be 

milled out directly after the curing of the 

liner without the risk of changes in length. 

Considering the high density of connections 

in Ostertorsteinweg and the fact 

that behind almost every connection there 

is a multi-storey residential building with 

retail space at ground floor level, smooth 

maintenance of the drainage was especially 

important. In order to maintain the 

drainage during the rehabilitation, DN 400 

free-flow pipelines were installed above 

ground for temporary water drainage, 

including sufficiently powerful pumps. 

At exactly 9:00 pm, the last train had 

just disappeared around the corner and 

the preparatory cleaning work began in 

the collection drain so that at 11:00 pm 

the Brandenburger construction crew 

could begin with the insertion of the liner 

through the start shaft near Poststraße. The 

10.4 tonne glass fibre tube was let down 

into the opened shaft out of the transport 

packaging and, using an electrical 

conveyor belt, pulled with a steel cable 

connection to the target shaft at the 

Weberstraße. A foil that had been laid 

down protected it from damage. At 2:00 am 

on Saturday morning, the entire 173 metre 

length of liner lay in the Ostertorsteinweg 

collection drain. At the start and end of the 

Lamp train and curing 

A lamp train with nine UV modules, 

each 1,000 watt maximum power, was 

pulled through the form-fit calibrated liner 

with pre-calculated speed. The connection 

to the new UV technology with the 

special resin recipe made it possible to 

also achieve curing in a very short time. 

The light-curing process lasted a total of 

four and a half hours at a train speed of 

65 cm per minute and was recorded in 

all relevant parameters, including speed, 

exposure dose and liner temperature. The 

computer-aided documentation of this 

data allowed for any eventual deviations 

from target values of the technical parameters 

to be recognised immediately and 

allowed tracking of the curing procedure. 

Connection lines 

Directly after the curing of the liner, 

work began to open the connections. By 

midday Saturday, all 48 residential connections 

in the rehabilitated collection 

drain were milled open and at the start 

of the tram traffic on Monday morning at 

9:00 am they were all connected according 

to the specifications of the client. This 

was accomplished with the installation of 

glass fibre short liners up to 50 cm over 

the first pipe connection. The direct support 

area was filled with an epoxy resin 

system so that it was waterproof and 

had no cavities. The local residents were 

hardly affected by the project in terms 

of disruptive effects normally associated 

with construction projects. 

Further construction sections 

The combined second and third construction 

sections in Ostertorsteinweg 

were performed over ten days. As the 

tram traffic was already suspended, there 

was not the same degree of time pressure 

as in the first section. Two 115 and 

128 metre long liners were installed with 

all preparatory and related work. There 

was a work pause of almost four weeks 

after the first construction section due 

to a large number of residential connections, 

in the area of the collection drain 

yet to be rehabilitated, that were renewed 

in open cut. This entailed excavation 

work but also the renewed preparation 

of the surrounding drainage conduit. The 

independent laboratory inspection, as 

a major component of the quality management 

system, was performed in the 

Ostertorsteinweg project by engineering 

company Siebert in Oststeinbek. Their 

analysis of the liner samples taken from 

the construction site came to the positive 

result that all specified parameter nominal 

values of all liners were exceeded by 

at least ten per cent. 

Summary 

HanseWasser was pleased with the 

successful and on schedule completion 

of the rehabilitation project. The successful 

Ostertorsteinweg rehabilitation project 

accentuated not only the special advantages 

of the liner process that was used, 

but is also another example for the plus 

factors of the trenchless pipe lining technology 

as a whole. 

The rehabilitation using pipe lining with light-curing 

reaction resin systems 

The procedure has already proved itself in 26 countries, in which 

over 2,000 km of sewers have been installed in diameters from DN 

150 to DN 1000. In principle, the Brandenburger pipe liner procedure 

is based on the same basic idea as all other liner. A tube support 

saturated with reactive synthetic resin is brought into the sewer, 

where it is expanded with inside pressure to be form-fitting, i.e. 

with no ring gap, and then cured by a chemical reaction of the resin 

to a self-supporting inner lining. This technology is consequently 

trenchless, as no type of earthworks are necessary. The flexible 

liner tubes are typically applied using existing inspection shafts 

in the sewer. The special characteristics that differentiate the 

Brandenburger liner system from other pipe lining types are: 

• Use of seamlessly wound liners out of glass fibre laminate webs, 

• Unique saturation of the raw materials before the production of 

the pipe liner with UV-reactive UP resin (possibly with addition 

of peroxides for the variation “hybrid curing” for larger wall 

thicknesses over 10 millimetres) 

• Drawing in the liner on a protective foil and form-fitting expansion 

using compressed air 

• Curing of the liner using precisely dosed UV exposure 

(“BLUETEC® technology”). 

projects 


24 

25

SPR technology 

SPR utilises steel-reinforced interlocking PVC profile strips sealed 

in place by a high-pressure grout. The installation equipment can be 

utilised via standard manhole access points without site excavation. 

Sekisui’s CPT SPR technology can also be installed in vertical 

applications such as wet wells, access shafts and other large diameter 

structures. 

SPR is a spiral winding technique which is particularly well suited 

to the renewal of very large diameter pipelines – up to 5 metres. In 

addition to standard circular profiles, egg-shaped and horseshoe 

profiles, any custom shapes can also be provided. The winding 

machine is specially adapted to each project, enabling it to cover 

a very wide range of applications. SPR technology is already being 

successfully deployed in Asia and the USA to renew large diameter 

pipelines. 

The SPR process is unique as it can provide a customised structural 

solution to aging pipelines. It can be engineered to correct hydraulic 

anomalies as well as restore the slope of the original pipe. The 

interlocking edges of the profile create an impermeable mechanical 

lock that can withstand strong deformational forces. 

SPR liners have been tested in accordance with industry standards 

and meet or exceed the standards for spiral wound PVC Profile Wall 

Liners ASTM F – 1697-02 and F 1741-02a. Furthermore the SPR PVC 

profile has a Manning’s coefficient of n = .010. 

PROJECTS 


All wound up in Poland 

Szczecin, Poland is the first city in Europe to benefit from a new Japanese renewal technology, spiral 

pipe renewal (SPR). 

When the tender for a renewal project 

in Szczecin, Poland was first issued at the 

beginning of 2008, GRP short-pipe lining 

was specified. However, after some extensive 

research by the customer it was found 

that it would be very difficult to maintain the 

required water flow rates using the chosen 

technique. Severe deformation of the old 

pipe, which was not identified during the 

planning stage, meant that if a GRP shortpipe 

lining was used, the diameter of the 

renewed pipe would be much smaller, 

and so reduce the capacity of the new 

pipeline. 

Another challenge was posed by the fact 

that the pipeline being renewed in Szczecin 

was a main collector in the city centre, 

where it would be impossible to construct a 

dewatering system. Even though a large pit 

for the GRP lining had already been dug, 

at the last minute the customer decided 

– based on the new demands faced – to 

opt for the first ever European use of SPR 

technology. 

The masonry-lined combination sewer 

was built over a century ago. The condition 

of the sewer had deteriorated severely 

in recent years. As a result of continuous 

traffic and other external loads, longitudinal 

cracks had formed along the crown of the 

pipe, leading to increased deformation. 

Renewal had become a matter of urgency. 

There were also a large number of deposits 

and other obstacles protruding as much as 

50 cm into the pipe. Consequently, it was 

clear that thorough cleaning and jet-grouting 

work would have to be carried out prior 

to the renewal process. The SPR installation 

process can be divided into three key 

stages: the winding of the PVC profile, the 

construction of the bracing system and the 

grouting of the annulus 

Winding process 

The winding was executed starting from 

the manhole access shaft downstream to 

the next shaft. Based on the local conditions 

and the existing 18 metre long pit, the 

stretch of pipeline scheduled for renewal 

was divided into four segments. The winding 

machine installed the profile in the existing 

pipeline guided the profile and formed it 

into the desired shape, with an inner 

diameter of 2,240 x 1,600 mm. 

The winding machine 

moved one 

The SPR winding machine pulls the SPR profile into place and 

engages the dual locking mechanism. 

profile width forward on each rotation of the 

profile, locking the profile edges to form a 

water-tight pipe in the process. 

As soon as the machine’s forward 

momentum had taken it to the next shaft, 

the winding process was stopped and 

the profile separated. The team from the 

Polish construction company, together with 

the Japanese engineers, laid the 

winding machine and 

the profile reel to the 

next shaft, which 

then served as the 

new starting 

Bracing the shaft. 

point for the next installation phase and as 

the conduit through which the profile was 

again guided by the winding machine, as 

in the first phase. 

Bracing system 

In the next step, when the winding process 

was complete, the expert team constructed 

the bracing system. The braces were introduced 

through the shaft into the spiral 

wound pipe and carefully installed. The 

constructed cross-section of the bracing 

system prevents lifting of the new spiral 

wound pipe during subsequent grouting 

and prevents deformation. 

Grouting 

The grouting process for each renewal 

segment comprised injection of the grout 

into the annulus between the old pipe and 

the spiral wound PVC profile and curing of 

the grout. The team executed the grouting 

work in three stages. Then the braces 

were dismantled and installed in the next 

renewal segment. The pit area was grouted 

to a statically determined height above the 

spiral wound PVC profile. 

SPR technology in Poland. 

Below: SPR PVC profile is unreeled and fed 

into the winding machine. 

For further information contact Christopher Moritz at KMG LinerTec GmbH: 

christopher.moritz@sekisuicpt.com 

Summary 

All work was carried out by the team 

comprising workers from the local Polish 

agent of Sekisui CPT and Japanese technical 

specialists. The renewed sewer 

is beneath one of the main streets in 

Szczecin, and collects the rainwater and 

sewage from all the smaller surrounding 

systems. Work was interrupted several 

times due to flooding and above average 

rainfall, and lost time had to be made up 

for at night. However, since SPR can also 

be applied with drainage, the installation 

could be resumed without problem following 

the enforced breaks. 

Headed by Christopher Moritz, an 

expert team provides technical know-how 

and support covering all aspects of the 

new technology. “One of the key benefits 

of the SPR PVC profile from Sekisui is its 

environmental sustainability – including 60 

per cent less fossil fuel consumption, 30 

per cent less energy use and four times 

lower CO2 emissions in production. 

“That is one of the factors that will 

enable us to achieve our goal of delivering 

premium renewal solutions and becoming 

the market leader in the renewal of 

large-diameter pipelines in Europe,” said 

Mr Moritz. 

Despite the very difficult weather conditions, 

the European premiere of SPR 

technology was successfully completed 

within approximately two months. 

PROJECTS 


26 

27

Alleviating flooding 

in Ashbourne 

Severn Trent has embarked on an extensive program to upgrade the wastewater system – using 

trenchless solutions such as pipe jacking and CIPP – to alleviate flooding in Derbyshire, England. 

projects 


Ashbourne is a picturesque market 

town in the Derbyshire Dales with a population 

of just over 7,000. The Ashbourne 

Flood Alleviation Scheme has been 

designed to reduce 16 flooding problems 

within the central area of Ashbourne, 

Derbyshire. Hydraulic analysis of the 

sewer network revealed that the primary 

cause of the sewer flooding within the 

centre of Ashbourne, affecting 14 out of 

the 16 flooding locations, was the lack of 

spill capacity from the existing combined 

sewer overflow (CSO), situated near the 

town centre, and the hydraulic capacity of 

sewers passing flow to it. 

To increase the hydraulic capacity in 

the sewer system, the existing CSO was 

relocated to a position downstream of its 

current location to an area of public open 

space and a short length of upstream 

sewer was upsized to enable unrestricted 

flows to reach the new CSO location. A 

new outfall sewer was constructed from 

this CSO to enable flows to be discharged 

much further downstream than the existing 

CSO outfall position, where additional 

hydraulic outfall capacity in the Henmore 

Brook had been gained. 

The scheme solution involved the upsizing 

of several lengths of both the surface' 

and combined sewer system together with 

the rationalisation of three existing CSOs 

into one new overflow, and the provision of 

a new surface water outfall structure. 

The construction of the 675 metre, 

900 mm diameter outfall sewer formed a 

major element of the project solution in 

that it provided an unrestricted surface 

water outlet from the Town Centre. This 

sewer incorporated the 32 metre long nodig 

crossing of the Station Road – King 

Edward Street junction. 

Also included as part of the project 

were sewer rehabilitation works on the 

combined sewer upstream of the existing 

CSO location and the surface water sewer 

in Dig Street, Ashbourne. 

Pipe jacking prevents disruption 

The pipe jack was constructed beneath 

the Station Street – King Edward Street 

traffic siganalised junction. This road junction 

is the primary access points to one of 

Ashbourne’s two main car parks, which is 

Top: Completed pipe jack line. 

Bottom: Pipe jack thrust manhole. 

also the car park to the town’s Sainsbury’s 

Supermarket store. The Project designers 

felt that although the new sewer could 

be constructed across this road junction 

using an open cut construction method, 

doing so would cause considerable disruption 

to Ashbourne’s traffic system and 

its car parking, as well as unacceptable 

disruption to the supermarket. 

The main project contractor was 

Whitehouse Construction. Kiamm Ltd was 

the specialist subcontractor for the pipe 

jacking work. The pipe jack constructed in 

Ashbourne was a 1,200 mm hand driven 

open face pipe jack. 

The pipe jack was constructed across 

the road junction between thrust and 

reception pits situated on either side of the 

junction over a distance of 32 metres. The 

depth to the sewer at the thrust and reception 

pits was just over 4 metres, with a 

cover to the pipejack of approximately 2.8 

metres over its whole length. The ground 

conditions primarily comprised slightly 

sandy, gravelly clay. There were no problems 

experienced during construction and 

the pipe jack was driven successfully over 

a period of six hour working shifts. 

No-Dig on Dig Street 

The lining process used in Ashbourne 

was OnSite’s Premier-Pipe lining system. 

Premier-Pipe is a CIPP renovation process, 

which is installed without the need for 

costly and disruptive excavation. Premier- 

Pipe liners are individually manufactured 

to suit the dimensions of the pipes to be 

lined; the lining thickness being determined 

by individual design requirements. 

The lining tube is made of polyester felt 

with an outer coating of polyurethane, 

which is impregnated thoroughly with a 

liquid resin chosen to suit the working 

environment of the pipe. 

Two main sewer runs were relined as 

part of the Ashbourne Flood Alleviation 

Project. The first sewer being a 640 mm 

x 430 mm brick egg combined sewer 

of a total length of 135 metres and the 

second sewer being a 600 mm x 660 mm 

rectangular brick surface water sewer of 

125 metes in length. Both sewer lengths 

were situated on Dig Street in Ashbourne, 

which is one of the towns main commercial 

streets. Once impregnated with resin, 

the Premier-Pipe was installed using the 

scaffold tower inversion method from 

existing manholes situated on Dig Street. 

The relining was carried out on both 

of the sewer lengths to resolve structural 

problems discovered during investigation 

of the town's flooding problems and 

also to improve the hydraulic perforation 

of the sewer lengths. Due to the location 

of the proposed work, the relining 

was carried out under a ten day road 

closure. This time period was, however, 

vastly reduced than the time period that 

would have been required for conventional 

open cut replacement. 

Severn Trent supplies water and sewerage 

services to more than 3.7 million 

households and business customers in 

a region stretching from Mid Wales to 

Rutland and from Bristol Channel to the 

Humber. The water authority is responsible 

for 54,000 km of sewers and 1,000 

sewage treatment works. 

Mayfield Rd 

Station St 

Church St 

Station Rd 

Buxton rd 

Union St 

King St 

St John’s St 

Park rd 

Ashbourne 

Approximately 10 metres through pipe jack 2. 

Derby Rd 

Brandenburger 

cured-in-place-lining 

Belper Rd 

BLUETEC ® UV equipment 

- Quickest resin curing by using several performance 

levels 400/600/1000 W at various diameters 

- Newly developed UV lamps with high output 

- Permanent quality control and documentation 

using the control software Reline Control 3.0 

- Several types of UV equipment for different conditions 

and requirements at the construction site 

Arrival at reception pit. 

The High Tech procedure with UVA light-curing process for quick, environmentally sound and durable rehabilitation 

of sewer pipes circle profiles DN 150 - 1000 and egg-shaped profiles 200/300 - 800/1200. More than 2.0 

million metres of installed liners in 26 countries since 1993. 

A system with many years of installation experience, all aspects of the system developed from one company: 

Liner production, equipment, technology, service & support. 

GFRP pipe liner 

- Seamlessly wound with high and durable strength 

- Uniform resin distribution by unique impregnation 

- Factory-prepared, employing Advantex ® E-CR 

glass fibre and special resins 

- Quality management acc. 

DIN EN ISO 9001:2000 

Brandenburger 

Brandenburger Liner GmbH & Co. KG 

Taubensuhlstraße 6 

D - 76829 Landau/Pfalz 

Tel. +49 63 41 / 51 04 -0 

Fax +49 63 41 / 51 04 -155 

e-mail:info@brandenburger.de 

www.brandenburger.de 

projects 


28 

29

projects 


Rehabilitation of a return 

line for cooling water 

An innovative low pressure pipeline repair technique has been tested at a power plant in Berlin. 

Michael Roeling describes the procedure and successful outcome of the test. 

With a capacity of 600 MW, Reuter 

West is the most powerful heat and power 

plant in Berlin, Germany. It consists of 

two equal units, each with an output of 

300 MW (block D and E), which were put 

into operation in 1987 and 1989 respectively 

and located next to the existing old 

power plant, Reuter. 

During recent routine maintenance 

checks it was noticed that two of the four 

return pipes connecting the side coolers 

with the main cooling return line between 

the cooling tower and unit E were showing 

leakages caused by pitting corrosion. The 

leaking pipes are made of welded steel, 

with a nominal diameter of 600 mm and are 

operated with a maximum pressure of 29 

psi. The pipeline had been partly assembled 

by welding half pipes together on site, 

causing tolerances in diameter, an unusual 

trait for steel pipelines. 

The return lines, together with many other 

lines, are installed in a service duct below a 

pavement designed for heavy-duty trucks. 

The replacement of larger pipe sections 

would have required the opening of the 

pavement, digging a trench and removing 

the reinforced concrete floor. This method 

was rejected from the beginning; primarily 

due to the obstruction it would cause to 

internal plant traffic, but also for cost reasons. 

The replacement of small sections 

inside the closed service duct by hand was 

also discussed as a possible alternative. 

However, the cost would have been quite 

high. In either case, the replacement could 

never have been executed within the time 

frame. 

BKP Berolina Polyester GmbH & Co 

offered to install the new Berolina-LP-Liner, 

the first field test of the product. This 

renovation solution promised cost advantages 

for the power plant’s owner Vattenfall 

Europe. Plant management decided to 

renovate a test section using the liner and 

await a result before making a final decision 

about the method of renovation or 

replacement. 

Preparation 

As the condition of the leaking pipes — 

except the pitting holes — was generally 

still good, the final decision on method was 

postponed for several months. The leakages 

were closed by welding steel plates 

over the holes. A 40 metre test section was 

left for the liner renovation test. This section 

was limited by a 90 degree bend with a 

wall duct that followed on one side. On the 

other side of the section, and an additional 

90 degree bend led into an extension section. 

The distance between the upper pipe, 

which had to be renovated, and the ceiling 

measured only 3 to 5 cm. First the bends 

were removed because the liner installation, 

and subsequent curing by using 

UV-light, required reasonably straight sections. 

Afterwards the section was scheduled 

to be cleaned by high pressure jetting. 

Unfortunately this was not sufficient as the 

pipe was encrusted with a hardened buildup 

that could have damaged the liner. 

An intensive cleaning and levelling of the 

pipe’s inner surface was carried out using 

a special scraper known as a ‘go-devil’ 

(pictured). 

The insertion of the light train. 

Installation of the liner 

The liners were fibre reinforced plastics 

(FRP), using several layers of glass-fibre 

mesh reinforcement together with polyester 

resin which is cured by using UVA-light. 

So far the Berolina-Liners have been used 

for renovation of storm water or sewer 

pipes. The water tightness test in those 

cases followed the procedures of EN 1610 

with a maximum test pressure of 7.25 psi 

when using water and 1.45-2.90 psi when 

using air as a pressure medium. Based on 

the existing liner products the company 

ventured into a new product line to enable 

the renovation of pressure pipes. 

In this project, the liner for low pressure 

pipes was chosen to complete the test. 

Following the pipe cleaning, a polyethylene 

gliding foil was pulled in the pipe to 

protect the liner from damage by welding 

burrs or any remaining hardened build-up 

when being pulled in. 

Then the liner was pulled into the pipe 

with a hydraulic winch and closed with 

end caps. 

The liner was then inflated by air pressure 

in order to insert the UVA-light source. 

The light source consisted of a light train 

with eight metal halide lamps. The light 

spectrum was synchronised to the photo 

catalysts in the polyester resin. A curing 

unit, type Compact and made by HC 

PipeTech, was used for curing the liner. 

Due to the very small external dimensions 

of this equipment, the installation crew 

was able to bring the unit into the service 

duct by hand and through a door only 90 

cm wide. 

After the insertion of the light train, the 

liner was expanded close fit to the inner 

wall of the host pipe. The special design 

of the liner allows it to dialate over a 

relatively wide range of diameters – from 

5 per cent under measurement up to 5 

per cent over measurement compared 

with the specified size of the host pipe. 

Therefore, the large tolerances in diameter 

of the host pipe were not an issue for 

the liner. 

After dilatation, the light source was 

ignited and pulled through the liner at a 

defined speed. The UVA-light enabled the 

polymerisation of the polyester resin. 

After the curing had been completed 

the liner ends were cut with precision and 

the installed liner could be examined. The 

smoothness of the inner liner surface was 

striking. In a public sewer system the job 

would have been completed by this stage. 

In this case, the connection to the existing 

pipeline had to be made. Flange collars, 

also made of FRP, were bonded to the 

protruding liner ends and the continuing 

pipeline components with flange joints 

attached. This design was necessary for 

two reasons. Firstly, the design allowed for 

the opening of the test section for future 

inspections without destroying any part of 

the pipeline. Secondly, a joint by laminating 

was not possible because of the very 

narrow distance between the pipeline 

and the reinforced concrete ceiling. Even 

for the flange type of connection used in 

this project, the concrete cover had to 

be removed at some locations to allow 

enough working space. 

Summary 

The project described above has been 

accomplished in an extremely short time 

frame, especially considering the very 

tight working space. The renovation of the 

straight section, including cleaning with 

the ‘go-devil’, pulling in of gliding foil and 

liner, curing and exact cutting was done 

in a single day. The replacement of the 

pipe section with half pipes would have 

taken three to four weeks. The time taken 

for connecting the liner with the rest of 

the pipeline, as well as for the preparing 

works for removing the old steel bends, 

was within the normal time frame for this 

kind work. The pipe section renovated by 

ID 150 mm (~ 6‘‘) up to 

ID 1000 mm (~ 40‘‘) 

Glass fibre and/or polyester 

webs impregnated with resin 

Brief installation time 

Bridging of profile 

differences and cross 

sections 

Chemical resistant 

Suitable for all profiles 

Seamless construction 

Smooth surface 

Ready for installation 

Berolina-Liner System 

® 

Lightspeed sewer rehabilitation in 5 continents 

CIPP with UV-light 

The renovated pipe section. 

using the Berolina-LP Liner has been in 

full and unrestricted operation for over six 

months at the time of writing. From testing 

so far the Berolina-LP-Liner can be 

rated as reliable for this kind of pipeline 

renovation in power plants and other low 

pressure pipes. 

BKP Berolina Polyester GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin, Germany. For more information visit www.bkp-berolina.de or 

contact +49-30-36471-400 email info@bkp-berolina.de 

BKP Berolina Polyester GmbH & Co. KG 

Am Zeppelinpark 22 

13591 Berlin, Germany 

® 

UV-light source 

Tel.: +49 (0) 30 / 36471-400 

Fax: +49 (0) 30 / 36471-410 

info@bkp-berolina.de 

UVA-light in action. 

Insertion of the Berolina-LP-Liner. 

Less space required 

projects 


30 

31

obotics 


The role of robotics in the 

trenchless industry 

by Paul Heenan 

The official definition of a robot is “a machine or device that operates automatically or by remote 

control,” yet this does not really define the information and functions that the robots in the 

Trenchless Technology industry provide to engineers from local water authorities, municipalities and 

other utility owners. 

It can be argued that the first step 

towards what we know today as ‘robots’ 

was the use of tube cameras to inspect 

mainline sewers – CCTV inspection. This 

system of cleaning and winching the camera 

through the sewer was very labour 

intensive and, due to these manpower 

requirements, quite expensive. Despite 

this, the information gathered was invaluable 

in the asset management project. 

The problem with the winch system was 

that it required an entry and exit manhole; 

to operate this system two access points 

were required. For example, laterals that 

connect from the property directly into 

the main sewer lack the appropriate 

access. The advent of the cable and 

drain rods pushing system facilitated 

these inspections. This was further developed 

by Pearpoint Limited of the UK 

(now part of SPX) when the conductors 

that transferred the camera image to the 

control screen were incorporated inside 

a semi rigid rod, removing the need for 

a separate cable and rod. Finally the 

advance in technology of CCDs that 

produce the image surpassed the use of 

tube cameras and monochrome pictures 

were replaced by colour. 

The first camera-mounted robots – 

crawlers/tractors – provided completely 

new scope of possibilities. These robots 

enabled increased inspection distances, 

single entry point inspection and eventually 

‘pan and tilt’, which allowed the 

inspection of laterals from the main sewer 

to the building. It was a major step for 

the industry. Whether they were ‘shaft 

driven’ or ‘chain driven’, the only limitation 

became the loss of picture quality over 

greater distances. 

The risk of explosion created in sewers 

or confined spaces produced the next 

generation of robots. The advance in this 

particular industry gave rise to explosion 

proof systems, either by means of ‘flame 

paths’ or ‘inert gas-filled,’ the robots can 

now travel and inspect pipes that, 20 

years ago, were uncharted territory. 

All of this advancement had to be coordinated 

and the results assessed using 

a single system of examination. 

In 1974, the Water Research Centre in 

Swindon, UK provided such a method of 

evaluation. The system of fault classification 

and fault severity is used worldwide 

in both normal sewer (OX20) and brick 

sewer (OX21). The classification of grading, 

1 (good) to 5 (collapsed or near 

collapse), allows local water authority 

engineers, municipalities or other utility 

owners to set priorities in the next step 

of sewer robotics – sewer rehabilitation. 

So were CCTV inspection cameras the 

original robots According to the definition, 

cameras with remote functions such 

as focus, iris and rotate functions, and 

crawler/tractors obviously qualify. They 

were and still are an extension of the 

human eye. 

Robots in sewer rehabilitation 

If CCTV inspection is an extension of the 

human eye, repair robots are an extension 

of the human hand. These types of 

robots are performing tasks remotely 

and the benefits they provide, either 

financially or solution wise, are incalculable. 

The introduction of Trenchless 

Technology gave local engineers a more 

cost effective and cost efficient method 

to maintain the sewer systems within their 

control. Especially pertinent in today’s 

financial situation, using trenchless solutions 

makes the sewer infrastructure 

rehabilitation budget stretch that little bit 

further. The old idea of ‘dig it and fill it’ is 

expensive and intrusive; in comparison 

non-disruptive, remote repair by robot is 

unobtrusive and inexpensive. 

There are two main classes of rehabilitation 

robot, those that grind or cut 

and those that repair leaking joints or 

laterals. 

Grinding or cutting robots are the 

teeth of the sewer rehabilitation industry, 

removing intruding laterals or re-opening 

the laterals of relined pipes can be done 

with ease. The fundamental question that 

arises is how the grinding/cutting can be 

achieved quickly and cost effectively. 

There are two main methods: 

1. Air driven systems: air driven motors 

that are used in the grinding produce 

a good result in some materials, but 

not in all. The torque produced at 

the point of grinding/cutting can be 

considerably less than the alternative, 

hydraulic driven. The other problem, 

as most people are aware, is reliability 

and maintenance. The amount 

of debris and vibrations created during 

the process can cause slow and 

expensive repairs. 

2. Hydraulic driven systems: the use of 

hydraulic methods has shown that the 

vibrations and debris have no effect on 

the reliability of the system. The torque 

produced at the point of grinding/cutting 

easily and quickly deals with any 

material. This makes the system more 

cost effective and efficient. Although 

the amount of investment required in 

owning such a system can be higher 

than air driven systems, the difference 

is soon recovered with the increase of 

productivity. 

KATE-PMO AG of Freienbach, 

Switzerland, a leading manufacturer of 

hydraulic driven grinding/cutting robots 

for over 20 years, pioneered the use of 

this type of robot system and still has 

originally manufactured systems working 

in Germany today. 

Lateral repairs 

In 2004, an independent German 

organisation IKT (Institut für Unteridische 

Infrastruktur), together with 26 sewage 

network operators from different cities, 

assessed the different methods available 

for the repair of sewer pipe lateral connections. 

In order to assess the products 

capability of sealing internally and externally, 

the repairs ranged from standard 

damage to strong damage. A system of 

measurement was introduced: 

• Very good – 1.0 to 1.5 

• Deficient – 5.6 to 6. 

Seven robotic systems were tested and 

comparatively evaluated. In these tests it 

was shown that the system of repair from 

KATE-PMO AG was the highest rated 

product. Using the lateral shield, more 

than one repair can be carried out in the 

sewer length at any one time. The shield 

can be adjusted to suit the angle of entry 

into the sewer making a perfect mould for 

the resin to bond to the pipe material. 

Alternative robots in the sewer 

The use of sewers to deploy cables 

is not a new idea; it was first pioneered 

by the French in Paris at the turn of the 

1900s. Robots have been developed by 

companies, including KATE-PMO AG, to 

deploy fibre optic cables in sewers with 

diameters from 200 mm up to and including 

700 mm. What is special about this 

system is the software that creates a 

map of the sewer line. Each joint, lateral 

or defect is measured and recorded. 

The position of the tubes is set by the 

clamps installed in the sewer length in 

order to avoid interfering with laterals 

and the primary use of transportation of 

waste material. More than 400,000 metres 

have been installed to date with minimum 

excavation, making it an environmentally 

friendly solution for telecommunication 

companies, disaster recovery situations 

and local authorities. 

The Future 

The future for robotics in sewers is 

vast, and the ever increasing market in 

Trenchless Technology will no doubt 

provide new advances in the design, 

manufacture and materials. Reliability 

and quality must be maintained in order 

to consolidate the trenchless industry in 

today’s market place. 

Paul Heenan is the International 

Sales and Marketing Manager 

for KA-TE. 

Robotics 


32 

33

Locating laterals in Toronto 

Benko Sewer Services of Ontario uses four IBAK Lateral Launch Systems (LISY) in order to maintain 

essential services in the city of Toronto, Canada. 

A guide to manual 

coating application 

products anD services 


Benko, a division of Badger Daylighting, is a multi-disciplinary 

company that specialises in CCTV inspections, maintenance and 

flushing\cleaning of sewers, catch basin cleaning, smoke and 

air testing, and hydro-excavating. For the past 15 years, Benko 

has serviced and supported customers from all regions of 

Ontario. Benko uses only industry leading products from the most 

respected manufacturers in the world today, offering diverse 

applications to meet the needs of both private and municipal 

clients. 

The IBAK - LISY lateral launch system was introduced in 1993. 

The first of its kind, the LISY has evolved throughout the years 

and still provides users with unparalleled control, capability and 

picture quality. 

Over the past year, the company has increased its existing 

fleet of CCTV trucks by acquiring four IBAK lateral launch units 

to complement and maintain essential wastewater services. The 

trucks have been used to carry out lateral launch contracts in 

both the municipal and private sectors and have to date pushed 

over three thousand lateral launches as well as increasing the 

capacity for regular mainline contracts. 

Benko has had great success with these units in respect to 

productivity, reliability and quality of the end product. The picture 

quality is constantly noticed by clients and maintains a consistently 

high quality in any pipe size. The operating platform for the 

CCTV operators is quite different from the rest of the fleet, but 

training has been of minimal effort due to the user-friendly nature 

of the control system. 

The company focuses on quality equipment, such as the 

Badger Hydrovac units, and sees this as being the key to achieving 

success in the industry. The company believes that IBAK has 

been the equivalent on the CCTV side of the business and has 

given the ability to mix high quality equipment with high quality 

operators to achieve a superior service. 

Benko has been employed on a contract within the city of 

Toronto, which requires locating the depth and line of the sewer 

connections up to the building line. The advantage of this method 

is that there is no intrusion to residential property (in order to 

remove toilets) to achieve the same location results. The main 

contract being carried out at present is lateral locating using the 

IBAK - LISY. The trucks are pushing lateral launches every day. 

A Benko spokesperson said “we have faced many different 

scenarios with the condition, line, material of the pipe, but the 

IBAK Lisy has been consistent in giving us the results we are 

looking for. One area in particular would be where there is a 

‘Y’connection within the sewer lateral. 

“We are able to push both ways through the ‘Y’ by using the 

pan and tilt motion and the guide rod to direct us into each line 

as required.” 

The spokesperson said another key advantage with the system 

has been the capability of carrying out a manline ‘manhole 

to manhole’ run and to seamlessly carry out required lateral 

launches along the line using the same camera and data collection 

software without the need to produce separate video files 

and reports. 

A truck with IBAK - LISY on board. 

RapidView IBAK North America distributes IBAK products through a dealer network in the United States, 

Canada and the Caribbean Islands. 

The rehabilitation of pipes damaged by corrosion has resulted in the creation of innovative and 

effective solutions. The following provides a ‘how to’ guide for the manual application of mortar 

coatings. 

The coating of drinking water pipes has been offered 

within Germany since 1970. Cement mortar coatings, as per 

DWGW W 343, DIN 2880, DIN 2614 and EN 805, are carried 

out in situ on pipes from DN 80 diameter upwards. The centrifugal 

spray technique is a clear favourite application method. 

Sewer pipes have been coated with mortar in Germany since 

1982. The applications methods are: 

1. Manually applied coating 

2. Wet spray coating 

3. Centrifugal spray coating 

4. Displacement process 

Shafts and other installations in the German public drainage 

system have also been coated with mortars since 1982. 

Manually applied and wet spray coatings were the predominant 

methods, however the centrifugal spray M-coating 

process has gained more popularity recently. 

Manual Coating 

Equipment: 

Mortar mixing container, bucket, two-paddle mixer, trowel, 

steel float, sponge board, coarse sponge, graduated water 

container, brush or soft broom 

Applying the bond layer: 

The first step is to create a bond layer using the renovation 

mortar. The grout needs to be mixed to a consistency between 

soft and plastic and then brushed onto the prepared substrate. 

The bond layer should be approximately 1-2 mm thick. If the 

substrate shows signs of damage or cavities, these must be 

filled in with mortar. 

Mixing the pipe renovation mortar: 

The appropriate ERGELIT-KS mortars are mixed according 

to their particular instruction sheet. Always take care to 

put the water into the mixing receptacle first. The amount of 

water, calculated as a percentage in relation to the dry weight 

of the mortar must be exact in order to guarantee the desired 

water-solid ratio of 0.4 or less. The water-solid ratio is usually 

provided as this is more practical for mixing dry mortars on 

site. It is also extremely important to mix the mortar for the 

recommended time. 

Coating: 

The mortar coating is applied by trowel and float, wet-onwet, 

to the bond layer applied previously. Using the trowel to 

apply the mortar, as is done with ordinary cement mortars, is 

difficult in this case because of the high adhesion factor and 

is not advisable. However, there are often occasions when 

technically there is no alternative. As a rule, several wet-on-wet 

applications are required depending on the depth desired. 

It is essential that the surface be lightly roughened between 

coats with a sponge or sponge board to ensure the application 

of the next coat. The surface of the final coat is smoothed with 

a damp brush in order to prevent water and air becoming 

trapped during the final steel coat smoothing. 

When repairing damage caused by biogenic sulphuric acid, 

if using ERGELIT-KS 2b as coating mortar, the fresh mortar’s 

high thixotropy must be taken into account. This means that 

the fresh mortar will stiffen in the mixing container after about 

5-10 minutes if mixing is interrupted. If this occurs, the mortar 

can be re-mixed for 20-30 minutes to recover its original consistency. 

In order to speed up the setting time, some mortars can be 

modified by the use of compatible accelerators, however the 

manufacturer should be consulted. 

Ambient temperature influences working time and must 

be observed. Working times for the different mortars can 

be obtained from technical data sheets available from the 

manufacturer. As manual coating has little impact energy, it is 

generally considered to be a top surface coating technique. 

In the past manual coating was the most popular technique. 

In the future it is anticipated that the wet-spray technique will 

be used for larger and irregularly shaped installations. 

products and services 


34 

35

Risky business 

by Roderick Lovely 

asset management 


1% 

20% 

36% 

3% 

Total miles of pipe by material 

9% 

52% 

3% 

Managing assets 

in Las Vegas 

Trenchless Technology contributes substantially to asset management across the world. Charles Scott 

from the Las Vegas Valley Water Department spoke with Trenchless International about their asset 

management program. 

Las Vegas is the most populous 

city in the USA state of Nevada. The 

Las Vegas Valley, a 600 square mile 

(1600 km²) basin and surrounding area, is 

part of Clark County in southern Nevada. 

Mr Scott says the Las Vegas Valley 

Water District (LVVWD) is responsible for 

over 4,500 miles of pipe in Las Vegas and 

unincorporated Clark County. Mr Scott 

says “We also manage over 100 miles of 

pipe in separate small water systems in 

the communities of Jean, Searchlight, Blue 

Diamond, Laughlin, and Kyle canyon.” 

The breakdown of total miles of pipe by 

material is shown below. 

The largest steel pipe, including mortar 

lined steel pipe, bar wrapped steel pipe 

and pre-tensioned wire wrapped pipe is 

102 inches in diameter. Most pipe in this 

class ranges from 24-48 inches in diameter. 

PVC pipe ranges from 4 inches up 

to 42 inches and ACP from 4 inches to 

60 inches. Most PVC and ACP pipe are 

from 6 – 8 inches. 

Mr Scott says that because of Las Vegas’ 

phenomenal population growth over the 

past ten years, the average age of all pipes 

in the distribution system is only about 18 

years. The average age for PVC pipe is 

eight years compared to ACP, which has 

an average age of between 29 and 34 

years. 

ACP has the highest break rate per mile 

compared with all other pipe materials. 

When asked what portion of assets the 

LVVWD inspects every year, Mr Scott says 

they are currently focusing assessment 

activities on ACP and steel pipe. “For ACP, 

our assessments are prioritised based on 

our CARE-W [computer aided rehabilitation 

of water networks] model that ranks pipe in 

terms of risk of failure – based on statistical 

failure modelling and hydraulic criticality – 

based on hydraulic modelling tool re-net. 

Asbestos cement 

Cast Iron 

Unknown 

Ductile iron 

PVC 

Polyethylene 

Mortar lined steel 

“We also try to employ the 

best available technology 

and use non-invasive 

techniques as much as 

possible.” 

“Other criteria such as impact to customers, 

potential damage to rods and 

types of customer served are also important 

considerations,” says Mr Scott. 

For steel, the LVVWD assessments are 

prioritised based on corrosion potential 

information collected from the Cathodic 

Protection system, as well as the potential 

consequences of failure, impact to customers 

and break history. 

“We have just this year implemented 

our CARE-W model, and have started a 

full-blown assessment program,” says Mr 

Scott. “This year we will assess approximately 

10 miles of ACP, and from 10 up to 

15 miles of steel pipe.” 

Mr Scott says that the total amount of 

ACP to be assessed each year will vary 

depending on the output of the model. The 

LVVWD plans on assessing approximately 

20 miles of steel pipe annually. 

Trenchless International asked if the 

District has adequate funding to conduct 

the inspection and repair programs. Mr 

Scott answered “Funding is a challenge 

for all utilities, this is why we are careful to 

assess only those pipes at the most risk.” 

The LVVWD is just beginning to investigate 

the advantages of Trenchless 

Technology following a successful CIPP 

project. The District will be evaluating the 

applicability of Trenchless solutions on a 

case by case basis. 

Quantifying risk is fundamental to any physical asset management program, the following article 

presents how this information can be obtained and used to assess risk. 

Water and wastewater infrastructure 

managers make decisions every day 

that are aimed at reducing the risk of costly 

failures. For most, the decision process is 

ingrained, based on years of experience 

and knowledge in system management. 

But over time systems change, people 

retire, the knowledge base is lost, assets 

age, and the probability of costly failures 

increases. This is especially true in 

developed countries where underground 

utilities have been in place for over a hundred 

years, and the people who manage 

them are nearing retirement. 

As a new generation of managers 

emerges, they are being asked to manage 

assets that are nearing the end of 

their useful life with fewer resources, and 

tougher regulatory requirements, such as 

California’s Sanitary Sewer Management 

Plan, or SSMP. To cope with these challenges, 

savvy managers are turning to 

computer applications with physical asset 

management (PAM) features to allocate 

limited resources more strategically. 

Fundamental to PAM is prioritisation of 

assets based on a risk model. At a minimum, 

this involves knowing how assets 

might fail and what would happen if a 

failure were to occur. In PAM we define 

‘how assets might fail’ as the probability 

of failure (PoF) and ‘what would happen a 

failure were to occur’ as the consequence 

of failure (CoF). Risk is simply the product 

the PoF and CoF: 

Risk = PoF x CoF. 

Probability of failure 

To determine the PoF of any asset we 

must first determine how it may fail in terms 

of failure modes. When we categorise how 

an asset may fail there are at least four 

failure modes to consider that are common 

to all assets. 

Condition 

Condition may be put in terms of a 

Condition Rating by quantifying the number 

and extents of defects, or by direct measures 

such as a vibration analysis. It may be 

helpful to measure condition in both O&M 

Condition and Physical Condition. O&M 

Condition can be addressed through tasks 

such as cleaning and lubrication, while 

Physical Condition may call for capital remedies 

such as overhaul and replacement. 

Probability 

What it means 

100 per cent Failure likely to occur within a year 

90 

90 per cent chance of Failure in any year – Failure likely within 2 

years 

50 50 per cent chance of Failure within any year 

20 20 per cent chance of Failure within any year 

10 

2 

10 per cent chance of Failure within any year – 90 per cent 

chance it won’t 

2 per cent chance of Failure within any year - 98 per cent 

chance it won’t 

Age 

For age to have meaning we must 

first determine the life expectancy of any 

asset. Life expectancy can be influenced 

by many factors such as the surrounding 

environment, construction material, and 

installation techniques. Although age is 

often a good predictor of condition, an 

asset that appears to be in good condition 

may start to deteriorate rapidly or suddenly 

fail as it approaches the end of its 

useful life. Knowing how close your assets 

are to the end of their life expectancy may 

influence how often you inspect them or 

how you develop a replacement strategy 

to avoid costly failures. 

Capacity 

Does the demand placed on the asset 

exceed its original design capacity 

Influences such as population increases 

can certainly affect capacity. You must 

know what the demands are on your 

assets to measure capacity. Bear in mind 

that assets that are substantially underutilised 

could also lead to a higher PoF. 

Level of Service 

Perhaps the asset was put into place 

before new regulatory requirements were 

enacted. Stakeholder expectations for 

issues such as noise, odour, and safety 

may be more stringent now. Or it may 

be that newer alternatives have been 

developed that reduce the cost of operation 

to the point that it will be less costly 

to replace than to continue to operate. 

Establishing acceptable levels of service 

will help you make these determinations. 

Your actual list of failure modes will vary 

depending on the asset types that you 

are rating, but they will all most likely fall 

into one of these four categories. As you 

develop your criteria, take into account 

that ‘failure’ does not always mean a 

catastrophic failure, but it does mean that 

continuing to operate the asset without 

taking action will be more costly than 

doing something about it. 

Quantifying probability of failure 

When it comes to age, we humans 

inherently know that the probability of end 

of life increases as we grow older, and that 

probability increases at an accelerating 

rate. However, we have no way of determining 

precisely when the end will occur. 

The same is true for physical assets. But 

what we can do is apply a probability 

based on experience and historical data 

when available. Below is a sample table 

that shows how one might interpret levels 

of probability in a risk model. 

For the failure mode of age, the graph 

for static assets such as pipes and manholes 

where failure rarely occurs early in 

life can be illustrated in an age based 

curve. 

Mechanical and electrical assets are 

more prone to failures early in life and 

hence the probability of failure curve 

associated with these types of assets is 

often referred to as a ‘bathtub’ curve. 

If reliable historical data is available 

then the PoF should be based on the percentage 

of failures actually experienced. 

Similar curves can be created for other 

failure modes such as capacity where 



36 

37

Regarding criticality 

An asset that would cause 

severe consequences if it failed 

is inherently more critical to 

the operation of a system than 

assets that do not receive 

a high CoF rating. Thus, 

CoF ratings may be used to 

determine an asset’s criticality 

rating. For example if a 76 cm 

(30 inch) water transmission 

line failed it could flood out 

businesses, disrupt service for 

thousands, ruin public relations 

and cost a significant amount 

to repair so it would get a high 

CoF rating. In comparison a 15 

cm (6 inch) distribution line at 

the end of a residential street 

would not be anywhere near 

as consequential if it failed and 

therefore its criticality rating 

will be lower than the 76 cm (30 

inch) pipe. 

the PoF may plot as a bathtub curve 

because an asset that operates significantly 

under capacity is often more likely 

to fail than one operating at 50 – 75 per 

cent capacity. 

Consequences of failure 

Consequences of failure are often put 

in terms of the cost to fix and/or recover 

from a failure. In this sense it would be 

ideal to measure all consequences in 

terms of actual costs, but for most it is 

impractical to accurately forecast the 

cost of all failures and therefore most 

systems rate the CoF on an arbitrary 

scale. Other traits of CoFs are that they 

tend to reflect the service level expected 

and the priorities of stakeholders. For 

instance, the public places a high value 

on the environment, as does the EPA. 

Therefore, a sanitary sewer overflow that 

spills into a natural water body would 

be highly consequential when one considers 

environmental impact, aesthetic 

impact, and other impacts including the 

cost to contain and clean the spill. 

Some CoF examples include: 

• Threat to employee life and health 

• Threat to public life and health 

• Environmental damage 

• Regulatory compliance 

• Disruption of service 

• Property damage 

• Cost to repair 

• Loss of revenue 

• Public relations 

Generally it is more difficult to affect 

consequences than failure probabilities 

but factors such as backup and 

redundancy should be considered when 

rating them. To develop CoF ratings for 

the types of assets you manage you 

should. 

Develop a list of consequences that 

could occur if an asset fails. Typically 

all assets of the same type should be 

assigned the same list of consequences 

for comparative purposes. 

Rank the importance of each consequence 

relative to other consequences 

in the list. This is done in recognition that 

some consequences carry higher costs 

than others, for instance ‘life and health’ 

would typically be weighted higher than 

‘public relations’. 

Develop criteria for determining a 

CoF rating for each asset. For instance, 

if a sewer manhole is within a certain 

distance and upstream of a water body 

then the CoF rating for ‘environmental 

damage’ will be higher than a manhole 

located further away from the water 

body. 

Quantifying risk 

Once you have determined thefailure 

modes, PoFs, consequences and CoF 

ratings, you can combine this informa- 

tion to calculate risk in a matrix for each 

asset. A risk matrix accounts for all of 

the CoFs and PoFs to calculate the risk 

for each asset 

In the risk matrix the consequences, 

along with their relative priority, are 

listed on the left. The asset is then 

rated according to the potential for 

each consequence to occur if the asset 

were to fail. The CoF score is calculated 

by multiplying the priority by the rating 

and adjusted to an arbitrary scale 

of 10 (where 10 signifies the highest 

consequence). Failure probabilities are 

developed from measures on the asset 

and entered into the table for each 

failure mode. Each CoF score is then 

multiplied by each PoF to generate risk 

scores. The highest risk score for each 

consequence is highlighted in red. The 

highest risk value falls out of the table as 

the risk factor. 

Developing the risk model requires 

this same analysis to be performed on 

each asset. If you are dealing with just 

a few assets you could perform the calculation 

by hand. However, if you are 

dealing with hundreds or thousands of 

assets then you should consider using 

a computer application to develop the 

model. Once the model is developed 

you should see patterns emerge. 

Planning for the future 

Managers have always conducted 

studies to gather information about their 

systems for decision making purposes. 

However, with the advent of PAM we 

now have a means to utilise this information 

qualitatively in a risk model as 

a basis for strategic decision making. 

When dealing with a large number of 

assets the use of computer software 

with PAM capabilities can help develop 

a risk model and assist in prioritising 

O&M and capital project activities. Risk 

assessment should be central to any 

asset management program as there are 

many tactics in PAM that use the same 

information pool generated from the risk 

model including cost/benefit analysis, 

triple bottom line analysis, optimised 

budget forecasting and reliability centered 

maintenance. For more information 

visit http://epa.gov/owm/assetmanage/ 

index.htm . 

Roderick Lovely is the Vice President of Product Management at VUEWorks, Inc., developers of GISintegrated 

work order and asset management solutions. Mr Lovely also serves as vice chair of the New 

England Water and Environment Association’s Asset Management Committee. 



ASSET management 


38 

39

Deterioration Factors 

Distress Indicators 

Preliminary Detailed Preliminary Detailed 

Covering your assets 

by Hesham Osman and Kevin Bainbridge 

Water pH Corrosion potential Leak detection RFEC/TC 

Pipe embedment Soil resistivity Visual inspection (test pits) Ultrasonic wall thickness 

Backfill type Soil pH, chlorides Pit depth measurement Visual inspection 

Cathodic protection 

Rate of wire breaks 



With the Infrastructure deficit in Canada and other countries climbing along with the changing 

economy, there is a real need for municipalities and utilities to take a hard look at the way they view 

the management of their infrastructure assets. The “asset management” era is upon us and many 

municipalities across Canada and internationally are recognising the necessity to change their service 

delivery model, essentially re-evaluating how they do business. 

The effective management of 

municipal water distribution pipes is no 

exception and as such, many municipalities 

and utilities across the country and 

internationally have significantly changed 

their philosophical and pragmatic 

approach to managing their distribution 

systems. 

Essential infrastructure 

There is a growing need for cities and 

water utilities to find better ways to prioritise 

their infrastructure asset maintenance, 

rehabilitation and replacement projects 

and to intefrate infrastructure asset management 

techniques into their decision 

making. As infrastructure ages, it becomes 

increasingly more challenging to assign 

limited capital expenditures to the repair, 

rehabilitation or replacement of the assets. 

The prudent management of water mains 

requires a reasonable assessment of its 

current condition coupled with a reliable 

methodology to forecast future condition 

State 

Time to second 

failure 

Time to forth failure 

Time to sixth failure 

Wiebull Parameter 

under different management scenarios. 

It can be argued that water mains are 

one of the most difficult infrastructure 

assets to properly manage in a total asset 

management framework. This can be 

partly attributed to the difficulties associated 

with ascertaining a reliable measure 

for their physical condition. Faced with this 

challenge, the City of Hamilton embarked 

on an ambitious series of studies in 2006 

geared towards the creation of a comprehensive 

tool set for managing water 

mains. The studies encompassed four 

main components: 

1. Water Main Criticality Model; As the 

starting point for risk management, 

the criticality model classifies assets 

based on their ramifications of failure. 

The model encompasses economic, 

environmental, social and operational 

consequences of pipe failure. The 

model defines the subsequent management 

practices that will be used 

for high, low, and medium criticality 

Table 1: Sample Weibull parameters for various material types and failure occurrences. 

Pipe Material type/vintage 

pipe. For low criticality pipe, failure 

can be tolerated and the goal is to 

develop sound management policies 

that balance life-cycle costs with 

acceptable levels of service. For high 

criticality pipe, failure is not acceptable 

and hence more proactive policies 

driven by actual pipe condition and 

deterioration factors are sought. 

2. Water Main Performance Model; The 

challenge associated with developing 

a performance model for water mains 

stems from the lack of reliable data 

on which to base the notion of ‘pipe 

condition’. The performance model 

is developed for low criticality pipe 

and uses the number of breaks as 

a proxy for condition. By mining the 

break history of various pipe vintages 

(ductile iron, cast iron pit cast, and 

cast iron spun cast), a life regression 

model is calibrated for times between 

subsequent breaks. The model is 

subsequently used as a forward look- 

Ductile CIPIt CISP1 CISP3 

Alpha 61.25522 37.27617 37.41538 31.16957 

Beta 0.571146 0.720985 0.572962 0.624836 

MTTF 98.5903 45.91374 59.94733 44.57487 

Alpha 9.02527 11.55926 10.66693 6.648598 

Beta 0.450631 0.542016 0.673825 0.704786 

MTTF 22.30006 20.13408 14.02286 8.361831 

Alpha 8.038522 3.426698 6.747531 4.09902 

Beta 0.486966 0.726976 0.49988 0.67752 

MTTF 16.90065 4.189806 13.50105 5.358 

Soil type 

ing predictive model to forecast the 

expected failure times. The model was 

used to assist in the development of 

economic intervention strategies for 

replacement and/or rehabilitation, longterm 

budget forecasts of repair and 

rehabilitation needs in addition to aiding 

at the tactical level in rationalising 

the coordination of capital works with 

sewers and road. 

3. Critical Water Main Management; A 

unique approach for critical water mains 

is developed based on the proactive 

collection of condition information. The 

framework is composed of two main 

components: a condition assessment 

rationalisation framework and a condition 

rating consolidation framework. 

4. Information Management Framework; 

The aforementioned components all 

require sound and reliable information. 

This framework aims to standardise the 

way information is used to make decisions 

pertaining to water main assets. 

The framework is currently developing 

standard information policies and practices 

that include all stakeholders who 

interact with water main information 

throughout its life cycle. In addition, 

the framework is investigating the most 

optimum use of HANSEN (CMMS) to 

support existing and evolving business 

processes within the City. 

Water Main Criticality Model 

The premise behind this model stems 

from the risk-based prioritisation and decision 

making concepts that are entrenched 

in the city’s overall approach to asset 

management. The intent of this model is 

to answer questions such as ‘Which water 

mains will have the greatest impact to 

the city, should a break occur’ in order 

to focus resources and effort on these 

assets before they fail. Prior to the establishment 

of the criticality model, there was 

no standard method for the creation of a 

Water Main Criticality Model. It remains a 

subjective process in which the municipality 

must be heavily involved with the 

selection and ranking of parameters that 

they feel affect water main rehabilitation 

and replacement costs for the local area. 

Pressure data 

Table 2: Listing of some common distress indicators and deterioration factors. 

Because of this, the parameters affecting 

cost of rehabilitation and replacement of 

water main infrastructure were selected 

and ranked within a joint effort between 

the consultant and the City of Hamilton. 

Examples of criticality parameters 

include pipe characteristics such as material 

and underground depth, type of land 

use in which the pipe is situated, whether 

the pipe is connected to major water users 

or to important public health facilities such 

as hospitals and dialysis centres, whether 

the pipe is located in steep slopes or environmentally 

sensitive areas. 

The application of GIS is particularly 

well suited to the development of 

Criticality Models because of its ability to 

apply many of the criticality parameters 

to the segments representing the water 

main assets through spatial analysis. Risk 

elements were organised into four main 

categories: 

1. Economic – 

influence of the 

asset’s failure 

on monetary 

resources 

2. Operational – 


asset’s failure on 

operational ability 

3. Social – influence 

of the asset’s failure 

on society 

4. Environmental – 


asset’s failure on 

the environment. 

The result of the 

criticality model was 

the categorisation of 

the citys inventory 

of water mains into 

three distinct groups; 

high, medium and 

low criticality water 

mains. The model 

categorised approximately10 

per cent 

of the network as 

having a high criticality, 

approximately 

20 per cent of the network as medium criticality 

and the remainder as low criticality. 

Water Main Performance Model 

The performance model is geared 

towards addressing the needs of low 

criticality water mains. The model is based 

on a statistical approach founded on 

developing mathematical models that utilise 

past failure history to forecast future 

trends and variations in breakage rates. 

As mentioned in the introduction to this 

paper, the ST-LR approach models the 

time between successive water main failures. 

The approach models each failure 

number (i.e. 1st failure, 2nd failure, etc…) 

as a separate and distinct condition state. 

Five distinct cohorts were modelled; three 

vintages of Cast Iron (spun cast), pit cast 

iron, and Ductile Iron. Other material types 

were in use (Hyprotec ductile and plastic) 

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40 

41



An example graph. 

but did not have sufficient failure history to 

warrant a standalone analysis. 

Sample results of the calibration process 

are shown in table 1. Results show a 

relatively long mean time to first failure for 

ductile iron pipes compared to cast iron 

pipes. However, for mean time to subsequent 

failures (especially after the 4th 

failure) cast iron pipes tend to outperform 

ductile iron. No significant differences 

were noticed in the performance of spun 

and pit cast iron pipes. 

The performance model was used to 

predict the following: 

• Long-term funding requirements for 

repair and replacement/rehabilitation 

under different level of service scenarios. 

Level of service was measured 

by number of failures experienced on a 

water main segment. 

• Using a Monte Carlo simulation to predict 

future failure patterns on various 

water main vintages, the optimum time 

to replace/rehabilitate was computed 

as a function of the ratio to repair 

to replacement cost. This minimum 

expected economic loss (MEEL) was 

found to be somewhat large for typical 

cost ratios (8-12 failures on a water 

main segment). This indicated that the 

governing criterion is more likely to be 

a level of service indicator set by the 

municipality rather than pure economics. 

In addition to the use of the model at the 

strategic planning level, the performance 

model was used to develop two important 

tools for water main management at the 

tactical/operational level. The coordinated 

infrastructure renewal tool and the early 

replacement tool set. 

Critical Water Main Management 

The approach for managing critical 

water mains differs considerably from that 

for noncritical mains. Some of these key 

differences include: 

• Repair policy: With noncritical water 

mains, breaks can be tolerated and 

hence a run-to-end of service life 

approach can be accepted. Conversely, 

critical water mains with zero tolerance 

for failure, a proactive maintenance and 

rehabilitation policy should be sought. 

• Tolerance to uncertainty: Whereas 

with noncritical water mains and their 

run to failure management approach 

uncertainty in condition state can be 

tolerated, no such tolerance can be 

allowed for critical water mains. This 

has ramifications on the amount of 

information being collected and the 

level of detail at which this information 

should be stored. 

The critical water main management 

framework consists of three main tool 

sets. 

1. Assessment rationalisation framework: 

2. Condition rating consolidation 

framework: This tool set attempts to 

standardise the way the results of 

assessment techniques are interpreted 

and subsequently used to drive decisions. 

The framework is developed 

for ductile iron and cast iron water 

mains as they compose the majority 

of the city’s critical inventory. The 

framework utilises Fuzzy Logic and 

the Analytical Hierarchy Process to 

combine condition rating results into an 

overall rating for the condition state as 

well as the expected deterioration rate 

of the pipe. 

3. Planning cycle decision analysis tool: 

The purpose of this tool is to equip 

the asset manager with a consistent 

methodology for decision-making 

during each planning cycle. Within 

a planning cycle, the asset manger 

must make one of three decisions 

for the critical water main inventory; 

schedule intervention, schedule 

inspection and revisit at next planning 

cycle. 

In order to make an informed decision, 

the asset manager must consider the following 

aspects: 

• Condition State. This is analogous to 

the probability of failure. 

• Pipeline Risk. This corresponds to the 

consequence of failure. 

• Extent of condition/deterioration 

information currently available. The 

tool performs a trade-off between 

the available amount of condition/ 

deterioration information and the risk 

associated with operating the pipeline. 

• Level of uncertainty associated 

with inferring the condition state. 

Associated with the condition state 

that is inferred from the consolidation 

tool will be a measure of uncertainty. 

This factor must be considered in the 

decision process. 

This study is still ongoing and aims 

to re-evaluate what information is collected, 

and the way information is stored 

and handled throughout the lifecycle of 

the water main assets. 

Conclusion 

With these tools built, the city has established 

the foundation for the effective 

management of its watermain infrastructure. 

Furthermore, as these tools are 

integrated into the daily business decision 

process, they will be refined and 

improved to reflect the increasing knowledge 

growth within the city. They will also 

form the basis for clearly articulating the 

ramifications of decisions. This includes 

the need to focus resources, particularly 

financial, on the assessment of critical 

infrastructure, which in many cases has 

not yet failed or otherwise caused operational 

issues. These types of studies are 

often expensive and do not result in new 

tangible assets, but rather an improved 

understanding of the probability of failure. 

As such, these types of expenditures can 

often be challenging for cities and utilities 

to get funding approval for with out being 

able to demonstrate the non tangible 

benefits. 

This article is an edited version of a paper entitled Water Main Asset Management in the City of Hamilton: A Comprehensive Overview of Policies, Practices, Tools, 

and Technology by Hesham Osman and Kevin Bainbridge. The paper is to be presented at No-Dig 2009 Toronto, Canada. Please refer to the paper for more detailed 

information, references and acknowledgements. 

Delivering desalinated 

water to Sydney 

The $US419.5 million water delivery infrastructure project, part of 

the Sydney’s Desalination Project, aims to secure the city's water 

supply for future generations by constructing about 24 km of 

pipelines across Botany Bay, Australia. 

The new pipeline and its associated 

infrastructure and systems will carry the 

desalinated water from Kurnell, across 

Botany Bay, to Sydney's main water supply, 

the City Water Tunnel at Erskineville. 

Three tunnel boring machines (TBMs) 

will be employed to minimise the disturbance 

to residents and also to protect 

unique tracts of seagrass on the floor of 

Botany Bay. 

TBM: managing the environment 

The southern shore of Botany Bay contains 

extensive seagrass beds, which 

are a valued and protected part of the 

estuarine environment. Three species of 

seagrass are present off Silver Beach at 

Kurnell: zostera capricorni or eelgrass; 

posidonia australis or strapweed; and 

halophila ovalis or paddleweed. Posidonia 

requires the greatest consideration due to 

its slow reproduction and poor propagation 

by seed. 

Stretching about 6,500 metres in a westerly 

arc from Silver Beach at Kurnell to 

Lady Robinson’s Beach at Kyeemagh, the 

twin and single steel pipelines will impact 

approximately one per cent of the overall 

area of Botany Bay. Along the entire route, 

however, less than half of one per cent 

of existing seagrass along the southern 

shore (0.45 per cent) and Botany Bay 

(0.42 per cent) will be removed as a result 

of pipeline construction. 

Trenching through these seagrass beds 

would have required a seagrass management 

plan to be implemented during and 

after construction, and a compensatory 

seagrass package involving steps like 

transplantation. Instead, Sydney Water 

has chosen to microtunnel the pipeline 

from its Silver Beach construction area 

under Botany Bay for a distance of about 

800 metres in order to protect the seagrass. 

The Water Delivery Alliance will join 

the single 1,800 mm diameter pipeline 

from Silver Beach to the twin 1,400 mm 

diameter pipeline about 800 metres from 

the shoreline, and (as always) protection 

of the environment will be a key 

consideration. Pit construction is nearing 

completion at the Silver Beach site. This 

pit is supported by secant piling, has 

internal jet grouting and is around ten 

metres deep. Land-based sections of the 

pipeline will be constructed first. Material 

that has been dug up from the pit is being 

used on site where possible, in order to 

minimise truck movements. Continuous 

water quality monitoring is being carried 

out around the Silver Beach construction 

area. Recent monitoring of the site has 

indicated good water quality conditions, 

with similar results both inside and outside 

the silt curtain. 

TBM onshore 

A TBM is also an essential tool to minimise 

disruption onshore. The bore passes 

beneath Tasman and Dampier Streets, 

Kurnell, to install pipeline. The model 

shown is (page 45) a Herrenknecht earth 

pressure balance and AVN machine, 

weighing approximately 100 tonnes. 

The first microtunnelling drive through 

a residential area is now complete. The 

TBM tunnelled 640 metres from the 

launch pit in Cook Park, under General 

Holmes Drive and under Tancred Avenue 

to the receival pit at Muddy Creek. The 

TBM used was chosen specifically for the 

conditions at Cook Park. The pipe liner 

and services will be installed on this section 

of pipe in the coming months. 

The TBM has also finished tunnelling 

645 metres from Canal Road to 

Botany Freight Rail Line, which was the 

first tunnel completed on the project. 

Microtunnelling from Marsh Street 

Arncliffe, under the Cooks River to Tempe 

Recreation Reserve will begin in March. 

Choosing the route 

The pipeline route across Botany Bay 

was chosen because it avoids known 

areas of contamination. Every practical 

effort is being made to protect the 

Bay environment during construction. 

Water quality monitoring is ongoing 

during construction activities, in accordance 

with the Construction Water Quality 

Management Plan. The results of this 

monitoring will help the project team 

manage their work. 

environment 


42 

43

environment 

Supplying the community 

Water supplied from the 

desalination plant will increase 

the total volume of water 

available to all customers 

across the whole Sydney 

Water area, including the Blue 

Mountains, the Illawarra and 

Sydney. 

The desalination plant will be 

capable of producing up to 250 

megalitres of water per day 

(ML/d), and will be able to be 

modified to produce 500 ML/d 

if required. With a nominal 

capacity of 500 ML/d, the new 

pipeline will be able to operate 

for short periods at up to 550 

ML/d, to allow the flow to 

integrate into Sydney Water’s 

existing water supply network. 

The pipeline and associated 

infrastructure is under 

construction by the Water 

Delivery Alliance, made up of 

Bovis Lend Lease, McConnell 

Dowell, Kellogg Brown & Root, 

Worley Parsons, Environmental 

Resources Management and 

Sydney Water Corporation. All 

of the parties to the alliance are 

responsible for the works to 

be designed, constructed and 

commissioned. 

This project is breaking new ground 

to achieve the distances set for the 

tunnel drives, while the sizing of the 

lay barge operations require laying 

twin 1,400 mm diameter pipe in a predredged 

trench across the vast Botany 

Bay waters, which is likely to be challenging. 

Some of the tunnels will be 

the longest ever undertaken by pipe 

jack method in Australia and potentially 

within the Southern Hemisphere. No twin 

pipeline of this diameter, laid simultaneously 

from a barge for 8 km, has been 

executed previously in Australia. 

Notwithstanding the considerable 

challenges that exist, the Water Delivery 

Alliance team is well-skilled and committed 

to overcoming them, utilising innovation 

and a team culture that is striving for the 

completion of this project on time, in a 

safe manner and surmounting technical 

challenges to break new ground. 

Herrenknecht tunnel boring machine. 

environment 


Project scope 

The main project works are: 

• A drinking water pumping station on 

the site of the desalination plant in 

Kurnell; 

• Infrastructure from the pumping 

station to the existing water supply 

system in Erskineville, via Silver 

Beach and Kyeemagh, including 

associated connections and flow and 

pressure controls; 

• Marine works consisting of twin 

7.5 km long, 1,400 mm diameter steel 

pipelines across Botany Bay; 

• Approximately 6.4 km of 1,800 

mm diameter mild steel cementlined 

onshore pipe, slipped inside 

2,100 mm diameter concrete pipes 

and installed by trenchless microtunnelling; 

and 

• Approximately 3 km of 1,800 mm 

diameter onshore pipeline, installed 

by conventional dig and lay trenching 

methods, with sheetpile and trench 

box shoring as required. 

Overcoming challenges 

Given the size of the project, and 

the locations it must traverse, considerable 

pre-planning and consultation 

has taken place with various regulatory 

authorities and the many wider stakeholders, 

including the community that 

will be affected by construction operations 

along the pipeline route. The 

Water Delivery Alliance has in place a 

structured team of proven community 

and environmental personnel, providing 

support to the wider team and ensuring 

that all approvals have been obtained 

and that stakeholders are well informed 

of both the program and methods of 

the activities that will take place in their 

vicinity. Community feedback has been 

encouraged and adjustments to the 

method or timing of activities has been 

made to accommodate their concerns, 

wherever possible. 


44 

45

pipe and conduit 



Part one - a brief history and guide 

The choice of pipe material is an important consideration when designing road, river and rail 

crossings and other trenchless installations. These materials have evolved to fulfil specific purposes 

in modern towns and cities. To help planners decide on the most appropriate pipe for the job 

Trenchless International provides the first in a two part series about the history and uses of pipe. 

Trenchless techniques minimise disturbance to residents, business and traffic, reduce environmental impacts and deliver 

long term economic advantages. However, asset managers need to be informed about the characteristics, strengths and weaknesses 

of the pipe materials most commonly used in trenchless installations. 

The construction of pipes and underground conduits dates back thousands of years and is one of the earliest forms of civil engineering 

construction. The Romans developed cement and concrete similar to that used today. They mixed slaked lime with a pozzolanic 

volcanic ash from Mt Vesuvius to produce cement. 

The information below provides an overview of the various types of pipe available, history of the technology, the most common 

trenchless applications and where the technologies is most suitable. For more detailed information, readers should consult the associations 

and companies involved in the manufacture and distribution of pipe. Don’t miss the next issue of Trenchless International 

which will feature the second part in our pipe and conduit series, concentrating on the rehabilitation and repair of underground infrastructure. 

Concrete pipe 

Trenchless applications: microtunnelling, 

pipe jacking 

Best suited for: storm sewer, waste water 

or culvert projects 

The oldest recorded modern-day concrete 

pipe installation is a sanitary sewer 

constructed in 1842 at Mohawk in New 

York State, USA. It remained operational 

for over 100 years. The French were the 

first to incorporate steel-reinforcement in 

concrete pipe in 1896. 

Concrete pipe is a rigid pipe system that 

is over 85 per cent dependent on the pipe 

strength and only 15 percent dependent 

on the strength derived from the 

soil envelope. Pre-cast concrete drainage 

products have a reputation for strength 

and durability. They will not burn, corrode 

prematurely, deflect or move off grade 

to reduce hydraulic performance. Steel 

reinforcement in concrete pipe adds to 

its inherent strength. The steel is shaped 

into cages. 

Concrete pipe is commonly joined using 

a confined O-ring gasket or profile gasketed 

joints. Common diameters range 

from 300 up to 3,600 mm. 

Bodies such as the American Army 

Corp of Engineers recommend a design 

life of 70-100 years for precast concrete 

pipe. 

Ductile iron pipe 


HDD, pipe bursting, jacking 

and boring 

Best suited for: water and waste 

water 

The strength, durability and long 

service life of ductile’s predecessor, 

gray Cast Iron pipe, are widely recognised. 

The first official record of Cast 

Iron pipe installation was in 1455 in 

Siegerland, Germany. In 1664, King 

Louis XIV ordered construction of a 

Cast Iron pipe main extending 15 

miles from a pumping station at Marlyon-Seine 

to Versailles to supply water 

to the fountains and town. This pipe 

served the palace gardens for more 

than 330 years. Ductile Iron was introduced 

to the market place in 1955. 

Ductile Iron pipe has high tensile 

strength, good elasticity and excellent 

ductility, making it suitable for 

high stress applications and where 

pressure surge may be experienced. 

It offers high corrosion resistance; 

hydraulic flow; high working pressure 

and ease of installation. 

Ductile Iron is available in pressure 

ratings up to 350 psi in all diameters 

from 75 to 1,600 mm. It is joined by a 

variety of different rubber-gasketed 

joints, mechanical joints, flanged joint, 

grooved or shouldered joints, balland-socket 

joints are also available. 

When properly installed Ductile Iron 

has a design life of over 100 years. 

Steel pipe 


directional drilling, pipe ramming 

Best suited for: gas, water and waste 

water. 

Early development and expansion of 

steel pipe manufacturing was made possible 

by the development of a process 

for refining iron into steel. The Bessemer 

process developed in 1855 and the openhearth 

process developed in 1861 were 

both techniques not only made steel, but 

also made it stronger, more ductile, and 

more cost effective. It was now possible to 

cold form steel sheets into large diameter 

pipes. 

Virtually all the early steel pipes were 

produced by rolling lengths of steel plate, 

usually 4-8 feet long, into cylinders and 

riveting the seams and joints to fabricate 

lengths of steel pipe of up to 30 - feet in 

overall length. The first recorded installation 

of steel pipe with riveted seams 

occurred in Railroad Flat, California in 

1858. Records show that some installations 

of steel pipe in San Francisco that 

were laid in 1863 are still in use today. 

Steel pipe is joined by welding, threading-and-coupling 

or compression fittings. 

Common diameters range from 3 up to 

1,500 mm. 

The design life varies depending upon 

the size, grade and coating applications. 

Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) 

Trenchless applications: sliplining, HDD, close fit pipe lining 

Best suited for: water, waste water and storm water 

Polyvinyl chloride was discovered late in the nineteenth century. Scientists 

observing the newly created chemical gas, vinyl chloride, also discovered that when 

the gas was exposed to sunlight, it underwent a chemical reaction (now recognised 

as polymerisation), resulting in an off-white solid material. But, this material was so 

difficult to work with that it was cast aside in favour of other materials. 

Years later in the 1920s, rubber scientist Waldo Semon was hired by BFGoodrich 

to develop a synthetic rubber to replace increasingly costly natural rubber. His 

experiments eventually produced polyvinyl chloride. Although product developers 

began to use PVC in a variety of ways – in shoe heels, golf balls, and raincoats, to 

name just a few – its application increased significantly during World War II. PVC 

turned out to be an excellent replacement for rubber insulation in wiring and was 

used extensively on US military ships. After 1945, its peace-time usage exploded, 

first used for sanitary sewers in the 1930s. 

Plastic pipe systems account for over 75 per cent of the pressure reticulation 

pipelines being installed across Australia today and over 90 per cent of the sewer 

reticulation pipelines. 

PVC slipliner pipe has a gasketed joint and close-fit is butt fused. HDD may be 

butt fused or a gasketed joint locked together with a spline or stainless steel pins. 

Common diameters for gasketed PVC pipe range from 40 up to 1,500 mm for gravity 

sewer and up to 1,200 mm for pressure pipe. 

A properly designed, installed and operated system will last in excess of 100 

years. 

Vitrified clay pipe (VCP) 

Trenchless applications: microtunnelling, pipe bursting, pilot tube tunnelling, HDD 

Best suited for: waste water and storm sewers 

Vitrified clay is a material that arises after firing high quality clay in controlled circumstances at a temperature of approximately 

1,200 degrees Celsius. Vitrified clay is chemically and mechanically resistant and also, in part due to its excellent hydraulic characteristics, 

has a lifespan greater than 100 years. 

New clay may be differentiated from old clay pipe by factory-applied flexible compression joints, no joint leakage, computerised 

drying and firing schedules that increases strength and reduce dimensional variation with vacuum de-airing during extrusion 

producing a denser body. 

VCP is joined with a compression joint with a low profile stainless steel collar in common diameters of 100 up to 1,200 mm. 

Project design life is greater than 100 years. 

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Sewage 

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46 

47

Record SWP down under 

Interflow, an Australian pipeline renewal contractor, recently installed the world’s longest and largest 

continuous spirally wound pipe liner from a fixed winding machine as part of a sewer rehabilitation 

project in Sydney. 

PIPE AND conduit 


High-density polyethylene (HDPE) 

Trenchless applications: HDD, pipe bursting, microtunnelling, sliplining 

Best suited for: water and wastewater, natural gas, fibre optics 

Paul Hogan and Robert Banks discovered crystalline polypropylene, and a similar 

plastic that could be produced using ethylene in 1931. When Hogan and Banks 

first created a reaction between ethylene and benzaldehyde using two thousand 

atmospheres of internal pressure, their experiment went askew when all the pressure 

escaped due to a leak in the testing container. On opening the tube they found 

a white waxy substance that looked a lot like some form of plastic. 

After repeating the experiment, they discovered that the loss of pressure was 

not due to a leak at all, but was a result of the polymerisation process. The residue 

polyethylene resin was a milky white, translucent substance derived from ethylene 

(CH2=CH2). Polyethylene was produced with either a low or high density. Highdensity 

polyethylene was developed in 1951. 

HDPE is flexible, tough, lightweight and impact resistant for lower cost installation. 

HDPE has performed well during earthquakes, tsunamis and corrosive environments. 

HDPE can be either fused or mechanically joined and is commonly available 

in diameters 15 to 160 mm. 

The life span of HDPE pipes is up to 100 years depending on design requirements 

and water quality. 

Polymer concrete pipe 


pipe jacking 

Best suited for: waste water 

Polymer concrete is similar to conventional 

concrete in that it contains selected 

blends of aggregates and fillers that are 

held together using a binder. In polymer 

concrete the binder is high strength, corrosion 

resistant, thermosetting resin. This 

resin requires a curing agent which, when 

combined with the resin, transfers the 

resin and curing agent from a liquid to a 

solid that bonds the aggregate, various 

fillers and internal reinforcement. 

Advantages of polymer concrete include 

rapid curing at ambient temperatures, 

good adhesion to most surfaces, good 

long term durability with respect to freeze 

and thaw cycles, good chemical resistance, 

lightweight and high tensile and 

flexural. 

The standard joint for tunnelling and 

jacking installations incorporates a pushon 

stainless steel collar in common 

diameters of 200 up to 2,600 mm. 

F i b r e g l a s s reinforced pipe 


jacking, slipling, tunnel lining 

and casings 

Best suited for: water, waste water, 

irrigation and drainage 

Fibreglass reinforced thermosetting 

plastic (‘fibreglass’) first became a 

viable alternative to protected steel, 

stainless steel and exotic materials 

in 1950. That year, centrifugal cast 

fibreglass piping was first used in 

the crude oil production industry as a 

solution to corrosion problems. It was 

during the 1960s that manufacturers 

began to develop nationally recognised 

standards and test methods 

for fibreglass storage and fibreglass 

piping systems. 

Fibreglass piping contains glass 

fibre reinforcement embedded in 

cured thermosetting resin. This composite 

structure typically contains 

additives such as pigments and dyes. 

By selecting the proper combination 

of resin, glass fibres, additives and 

design, the fabricator can create a 

product that meets the equipment 

designer’s performance standard. 

Fibreglass pipe is joined with pushtogether; 

gasket-sealed joints in 

common diameters of 450 up to 3,000 

mm with larger diameters possible. 

The design life is in excess of fifty 

years. 

This article is intended as a guide only; we recommended readers seek appropriate advice before selecting 

pipe material. This article was compiled with information from: American SpiralWeld pipe (www.acipco. 

com/aswp), Oxford Plastics Inc. (www.oxfordplasticsinc.com), Plastic, Pipes and Fitting Association (www. 

ppfahome.org), American Iron and Steel Institute (www.steel.org//AM), Fibreglass tank and pipe (www. 

fiberglasstankandpipe.com), Uni-Bell PVC Pipe Association (www.uni-bell.org), Plastic Industry and Pipe 

Association www.pipa.com.au, American Concrete Pipe Association (www.concrete-pipe.org), Ductile Iron 

Pipe Research Association (www.dipra.co), 

Hobas Pipe (www.hobas.com), National Association of Steel Pipe Distributers Association (www.naspd.com) 

and the National Clay Pipe Institute (www.ncpi.org). 

The pipe liner was 633 metres long, 

the equivalent of more than six football 

fields in length, 2.4 metres in diameter, and 

weighed almost 100 tonnes. 

The previous record for the longest continuous 

spirally wound pipe liner installed 

from a stationary winding machine was 340 

metres of an 800 mm diameter pipe liner. 

The installation method used by Interflow 

involved producing an in-situ pipe by spirally 

winding a composite plastic strip at a 

fixed diameter within the host pipe. 

The pipe liner was formed by feeding a 

profiled composite strip into a hydraulically 

powered winding machine positioned inside 

the existing access chamber. Adjacent profile 

strips were extrusion welded together 

inside the winding machine to form a high 

strength, water-tight pipe. As more strip 

was fed into the machine, the newly formed 

pipe corkscrewed its way to the downstream 

access chamber. The total length 

of 633 metres was achieved over a period 

of several days. 

Spirally winding pipes and pipe liners is 

not new. Various systems and techniques 

have existed for decades. Up until this 

point the practical limitation for the maximum 

length and size of pipe that could 

be produced was governed by the torque 

of the winding machine and its ability 

to overcome the frictional forces of the 

newly wound pipe as it rotates inside the 

host pipe. In the last few years, Interflow 

has perfected a technique for reducing 

the frictional forces by floating the newly 

formed pipe while being wound. In doing 

this, Interflow is able to use the flow inside 

the pipe to its benefit and obtain the added 

bonus of not needing to bypass the sewer 

in the act of renewal. Interflow’s technique 

involves controlling the water levels inside 

and outside the liner to achieve optimum 

buoyancy. In performing this work there 

was no indication that 633 metres was the 

limit of the technology. Based on the performance 

of the machine and the torque 

readings, Interflow has its sights firmly set 

on breaking through the one kilometre barrier 

in the future. 

This record installation by Interflow is 

a significant innovation for the trenchless 

sewer renewal industry not only because 

of the feat itself but also for the fact that 

it has opened up the potential for making 

very long pipelines from a single location, 

whether for pipe relining or tunnel boring or 

any other similar application. Interflow has 

plans to build on this platform and explore 

further opportunities. 

In this particular project, installing a pipe 

liner at this diameter and this length was 

essential because the distance between 

successive access chambers was uncharacteristically 

long. In a sense there were 

few other options available to reline the 

pipe, demonstrating once more that the 

Trenchless Technology industry continues 

to respond to the ever increasing challenges 

that the asset owners put to the 

market. 

The installation method, as more profile 

is fed into the winding machine the pipe 

travels towards the downstream access 

chamber. By the time it reached its destination 

100 tonnes of pipe was all turning at 

once. 

The Project 

The NGRS pipeline is a 2.515 metre 

diameter concrete sewer that runs from 

the Sydney suburbs of Landsdowne in 

the West to Arncliffe in the East. It was 

constructed in the 1950s and in some 

parts was gas attacked and in need of 

rehabilitation. The major challenges for 

Interflow were firstly to provide a structural 

pipe liner at such a large diameter 

and secondly to install a liner from existing 

access chambers and in continuous 

lengths between access chambers. 

In the trenchless sewer rehabilitation 

market, where the majority of pipe diameters 

are less than 1 metre, the most 

commonly used pipe products are made 

from plastic or resins. At these diameters 

plastic can provide a cost effective 

pipe, stiff enough to resist the applied 

loads. However, as pipe sizes increase 

beyond 1 metre in diameter, the range of 

plastic products that can provide a pipe 

stiff enough to resist the applied loads 

diminish, making it increasingly difficult 

to provide a practical and cost-effective 

liner. 

Interflow’s product of choice for these 

large diameter projects is RiblineTM, a 

unique steel reinforced spirally wound 

high density polyethylene liner. Ribline 

was developed by Rib Loc in 2005. A 

major advantage of Ribline is that the 

composite action between the steel and 

the plastic produces a pipe liner with a 

high strength to weight ratio and gives 

both the strength of steel and durability 

of polyethylene. For this application the 

Ribline pipe liner was designed to the 

required stiffness by using a specific size 

of steel reinforcement inside the plastic 

ribs of the profile that forms the liner. 

This allowed Interflow to offer its client 

a strong pipe with a minimum loss of 

cross sectional area. In fact the hydraulic 

performance of the lined pipe is actually 

enhanced as a result of relining. 

To put the strength to weight ratio of 

Ribline into perspective, a 1 metre long 

section of liner at 2.4 metre in diameter 

weighed only 150 kg. An equivalent 

concrete jacking pipe at the same diameter 

and the same strength would have 

weighed almost 3,000 kg. 

The steps involved in renewing the pipe 

include the following. Firstly the existing 



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The sewer had to remain operational at all times so work was performed in live flow. 

pipe is cleaned, with all the debris and 

silt removed from the pipe. The next step 

was to setup the Ribline installation equipment 

at the upstream manhole. From 

here the profile strip was fed from spools 

above ground into the Ribline winding 

machine stationed in the manhole below. 

Controlled from above ground, the Ribline 

winding machine wound the profile strip to 

produce a 2.4 metre fixed diameter pipe. 

Spools of Ribline profile were delivered to 

site as they were required. The size of the 

site footprint at all times during the project 

was surprisingly small. 

The liner was installed with live flow running 

constantly as the sewer had to remain 

in operation at all times. Bypass pumping 

and diverting the flow was not an acceptable 

option in this case. The flow levels 

were continuously monitored to make sure 

that buoyancy was maintained. 

Prior to commencement on site, extensive 

community consultation was necessary as 

many of the site works were adjacent to 

residential houses. Environmental sensitivity 

was also a key concern as the access 

pits and the site compound were located 

within an established nature reserve that is 

home to endangered species of flora and 

fauna including the Green and Golden 

Bell Frog, Regent Honeyeater, and the 

Downy Wattle Shrub. The reserve is also 

a recreational site that is popular with the 

general public because it has extensive 

bicycle and walking tracks. Community 

and Environmental Management plans 

were prepared to deal with these issues. 

Interflow’s safety performance on this 

project has also been outstanding with 

zero time lost to injuries recorded to date. 

This is a testament to Interflow’s management 

systems and also to the fact that 

the method used to renew the pipeline is 

inherently very safe. 

To date Interflow has successfully 

installed, over 1.8 km of 2.4 mm diameter 

Ribline pipe liner as part of this project. 

The company is on track to complete the 

project by early 2010. 

Interflow has demonstrated industry 

leadership and world class engineering 

innovation to overcome the challenges 

of the project and deliver to the client an 

effective and successful solution. In turn 

Interflow has extended the boundaries of 

trenchless large diameter pipeline renewal 

beyond the limits of what was previously 

considered possible. 

For more information about this 

project and Interflow visit 

www.interflow.com.au 

Trenchless Technology – 

building the economy 

by Kate Pemberton 

United States President Obama has signed the $US787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment 

Act into law. The stimulus package, including billions of dollars to fast track ‘shovel-ready’ 

infrastructure projects across the United States, is an effort to create jobs and grow the economy. 

The economic plan aims to save 

or create 3.5 million jobs, address the 

housing crisis and invest in infrastructure 

projects, including water and wastewater 

projects as well as an expansion of 

the broadband network. The legislation 

includes approximately $US150 billion 

in spending on ‘shovel-ready’ infrastructure 

projects with additional funds 

set aside for safe drinking water programs. 

There is reportedly $US4 billion 

slated for assistance to improving water 

quality and wastewater infrastructure 

needs and a further $US2 billion for 

drinking water infrastructure improvements. 

President Obama said of the stimulus 

package that “There will now be 

shovels in the ground, cranes in the 

air-rebuilding our crumbling roads and 

bridges and repairing our faulty levees 

and dams. It is the first step on the road 

to economic recovery.” 

Exploring 

North America 

In this special North America feature, Trenchless International 

looks at the projects and politics fostering the growth of the 

Trenchless Technology industry in the Unites States and Canada. 

United States President Barack Obama is anticipating an economic 

recovery led by a reinvestment in essential infrastructure. The NASTT is confident 

that the trenchless industry will play an important role in developing these 

projects with a minimum of disturbance and comparatively greener credentials 

than the alternative. 

This section investigates the use of Trenchless Technology in diverse projects 

including whether a HDD reaming pass can remove extreme alignment doglegs; 

the inspection and maintenance program on New York’s New Croton Aqueduct 

and auger boring through hard rock, with the assistance of a disk cutter, in 

Pennsylvania. The trenchless aspects of the Hampton Roads Crossing in 

Virginia and TransCanada’s Keystone Pipeline are also featured in this overview 

of North America. 

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Livingston Online, Michigan 

– “Up to $4.8 million could be 

pumped into Howell’s three year 

water and sewer projects.” 

Albany Herald, New York 

– “Public Works Director Phil 

Robertson had a list of some 18 

infrastructure projects [including] 

$34 million to rehabilitate storm 

and sanitary sewer system.” 

Lancaster Online, Pennsylvania 

– “44 projects are ‘shovel-ready’ 

totalling $262…the most expensive 

city project proposed for funding is 

the construction of an underground 

sewer storage facility.’ 

Kitsap Sun, Washington – 

“Kitsap County officials came up 

with 60 ‘shovel-ready’ projects 

including a $13 million sewer service 

from Bremerton Airport to the 

treatment facility.” 

Danvers Herald, Massachusetts 

– “Danvers submitted a list of 

‘shovel-ready’ projects [including] 

the Bates and Riverside Street renovation 

of water and sewer, road 

and sidewalk surfaces, at $1.7 million. 

There has been something like 

4,500 projects submitted by the 350 

cities and towns in Massachusetts.” 

The Daily Journal, Illinois – 

“Will County Executive Larry Walsh 

said ‘We have a list of around $60 

million in ‘shovel-ready’ projects.’ 

Largest of those is a $20 million 

sewer infrastructure project for the 

Ridgewood area of Joliet.” 

The Bridgeport News, 

Connecticut – “Governor Rell’s 

office has received more than 215 

project list requests from municipalities, 

state legislators, state agencies, 

non-profit groups, regional organisations, 

and for-profit entities 

[including requests for] sewer plant 

improvements.” 

“There is an ever-growing need for 

Trenchless Technology as a viable solution 

for solving America’s underground 

infrastructure problems.” 

Governors, mayors and city officials are working overtime to 

identify the projects that meet the ‘shovel-ready’ qualifications 

set by the government. The trenchless industry looks set to 

benefit from the injection of funding and a renewed interest in 

green or sustainable projects. 

The nuts and bolts 

In late January, the US conference of Mayors released the 

fourth in a series of reports addressing Mainstreet Economic 

Recovery on infrastructure projects that are “ready to go”. 

The report said that in 779 cities across the country a total of 

18,750 local infrastructure projects are ready. These projects 

represent an infrastructure investment of $US149 billion that 

would be capable of producing an estimated 1.6 million jobs 

in 2009 and 2010. 

American towns and cities are coping with the ageing of 

underground assets while also attempting to keep pace with 

new installations. Although the infrastructure is not a visible 

expenditure, like bridges and roads, it is essential to the 

health, living standards and economy of the nation. 

The American Water Works Association, an authority on 

safe water, said that “More than $US10 billion in infrastructure 

projects around the nation are ‘shovel-ready’ and can be 

underway as soon as funds are committed. 

“These projects would put more than 400,000 Americans to 

work on aging water mains, leaking pipes, treatment plants, 

pumps stations, storage reservoirs, elevated tanks and other 

needs.” 

President Obama, addressing Congress, said the enormous 

cash injection will enable the Government to “Build an 

economy that can lead this future, we will begin to rebuild 

America. Yes, we’ll put people to work repairing crumbling 

roads, bridges, and schools by eliminating the backlog of wellplanned, 

worthy and needed infrastructure projects. It means 

expanding broadband lines across America, so that a small 

business in a rural town can connect and compete with their 

counterparts anywhere in the world.” 

Trenchless industry to lead the way 

NASTT Chairman Chris Brahler said “Despite a sluggish US 

economy, I am optimistic about the outlook for the trenchless 

industry in the coming year. There is an ever-growing need 

for Trenchless Technology as a viable solution for solving 

America’s underground infrastructure problems. 

“The environmental benefits of Trenchless Technology will 

be attractive to those cities that are ‘going green’. Current 

research shows that CO2 emissions are reduced when trenchless 

methods are used versus open-cut. This translates to a 

direct-cost benefit for cities that are facing carbon taxation.” 

Mr Brahler said that from the green construction aspect 

to the heightened awareness of infrastructure, Trenchless 

Technology looks to play a strong role in 2009 and beyond. He 

also emphasised that the NASTT is well-positioned to face the 

challenges that lie ahead. 

“Our industry is made up of quality manufacturers, smart 

engineers and talented contractors and great municipalities and 

end users. That’s a winning combination for any industry.” 

Testing the limits of HDD 

by J Murphy, G Fyfe, T Giesbrecht and W Dyck 

In 2008, Pembina Pipelines completed the construction of a pipeline project to supply oil pipeline 

services to one of the new Oil Sands mines in northern Alberta, western Canada. Near the middle of 

the project on a section of NPS 24 pipeline, an HDD was required due to access, environmental and 

land constraints encountered. 

Pembina Pipelines Trust operates 

approximately 8,350 km of pipelines in 

British Columbia and Alberta. Pembina 

was awarded the contract to supply 

pipeline services to the new Oil Sands 

Project. 

The pipeline project included the completion 

of five pipeline loops along the 

Alberta Oil Sands Pipeline (AOSPL) pipeline. 

Existing AOSPL right of ways (ROWs) 

were used wherever possible to limit the 

quantity of new disturbance caused by 

the pipeline project, which is preferred 

by government regulators. Construction 

of the Horizon Pipeline Project started 

in 2006. Construction management was 

handled by Sambrosa Engineering of 

Edmonton, Alberta. 

One of the five new pipeline loops was 

the 17.3 km NPS24 Pine Creek Loop, 

which followed the existing pipeline corridor 

through the environmentally sensitive 

La Biche Wildland Provincial Park. There 

were many construction related challenges 

to deal with on this particular portion of the 

project. This loop involved the crossing of 

two water bodies, the La Biche River at 

the north boundary of the Park and Pine 

Creek at the south boundary. These water 

bodies constitute portions of the northern, 

eastern and southern boundaries of the 

park. 

After 2002, new pipeline construction in 

the park was no longer permitted, as was 

demonstrated when another large diameter 

pipeline that was to be constructed 

at about the same time as the Pine Creek 

Loop was forced to reroute around the 

park because Pembina's existing ROW 

through the park was only licensed for a 

single pipeline. Pembina was given permission 

to construct the Pine Creek Loop 

within the Park because it had a permit 

for multiple pipelines within the AOSPL 30 

metre ROW. 

The original report was based on an isolated, 

trenched crossing design. However, 

this method of crossing was rejected by 

Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation 

based on the successful HDD crossing 

of the La Biche River at the north end of 

the La Biche River Wildland Park. Alberta 

Tourism requested and Fisheries and 

Oceans Canada subsequently permitted 

an HDD crossing method as a first attempt 

Horizon / AOSPL Route Map. 

with the trenched method as last resort. 

Worley Parsons (WP) began reviewing 

the various configurations for a directional 

drill and subsequently determined that at 

least some new ROW would be needed 

within the Park. Although summer construction 

would occur during the 16 April 

to 15 July restriction period, approval 

to proceed was obtained as a result of 

the change to a trenchless construction 

technique, which would not be required in 

stream work. 

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During the above process WP was 

planning for the Pine Creek HDD. 

Success of the HDD was contingent on 

obtaining adequate subsurface geotechnical 

information to assist in engineering 

the crossing; the geotechnical investigation 

was completed in January 2007. 

Construction of the Pine Creek Loop was 

carried out successfully, with the Pine 

Creek HDD slated for July 2007. 

Due to the protected status of the La 

Biche River Wildland Park, no additional 

ROW was being granted within the park. 

WP attempted to design an HDD crossing 

with this restriction in mind but could 

not achieve the desired results based on 

the following: 

• The existing AOSPL ROW configuration 

was designed to accommodate 

the previously installed trenched 

crossing. There were changes in horizontal 

direction both upstream and 

downstream of the crossing. 

• A number of adjacent pipelines within 

the area had to be crossed along the 

HDD path. 

• The minimum design radius of curvature, 

required clearance from the 

bottom of Pine Creek and the required 

entry and exit angles. 

To ensure Pembina would be successful 

in obtaining the required approvals, 

WP chose the final alignment to utilise 

only existing cleared areas for the 

Above: Construction on hot lines with mats. 

Below: Direct Horizontal Rig AA 440,000 lb. 

necessary ROW required by the HDD 

alignment. The final design involved 

entry and exit angles of 10 degrees. 

Entry angles are typically steeper in 

order to minimise the potential for fluid 

releases to surface near entry and exit 

but 10 degrees was essential to limit 

the overall length of the HDD. The depth 

under the creek was set at the required 

minimum of 15 metres as noted in the 

geotechnical report. The alignment and 

length chosen had under crossings of 

the Suncor and Shaw cable utilities. As 

access on the north side of the crossing 

within the Park was limited, the drill entry 

point was established on the south side, 

even though the elevation was slightly 

higher than the north side. The total 

design length was about 440 metres. As 

a result of the alignment of the drill and 

the adjacent hot lines, extensive rig mats 

were required to allow work to be carried 

out over the top of these lines as well as 

most other aspects of the work. 

Ledcor Pipelines was awarded the 

mainline contract for the Horizon Pipeline 

Project. Ledcor subsequently awarded 

the HDD subcontract to Direct Horizontal 

of Stoney Plain Alberta. Direct completed 

the NPS 24 La Biche River crossing with 

an American Auger DD440 and moved 

the same drill rig to the south side of Pine 

Creek in July 2007. The selected drill rig 

(pictured) can be set up to enter at a 

minimum of 12 degrees, steeper than the 

designed entry of 10 degrees. Due to this 

change in the vertical alignment and the 

deepening of the bore profile as a result 

of steering difficulties, the total length of 

the drill ended up at 494.3 metres, an 

increase in length of about 12 percent. 

Problems with fluid releases close to 

the rig were encountered as a result of 

the soft ground and the shallow depth 

due to the shallow entry angle. Ultimately 

the contractor chose to put in 40 metres 

of 42 inch casing and then installed 70 

metres of 12 inch casing to minimise the 

fluid releases to surface. The 12 inch 

casing was utilised during the pilot hole 

drilling to try to ensure that the pilot hole 

was not lost as a result of the tripping in 

and out of the pilot hole in the soft clay 

formation. 

In addition, the contractor requested 

changes to the drill path to allow for a 

deeper drill path to minimise fluid releases. 

The minimum radius for the drill was set at 

600 metres at any point along the drill. 

Due to the soft nature of the clay, steering 

was somewhat difficult, requiring frequent 

adjustments. Ultimately the contractor was 

successful in completing the pilot hole 

and the first ream. 

At this point the engineer was provided 

the as-built drill profile survey data for 

review. Engineering Technology Inc of 

Calgary (Entec) was contracted to review 

the survey data and provide information 

regarding the drilled radius of the crossing. 

Entec used the industry accepted 

‘dogleg’ method to calculate the minimum 

radius along the drill path. The smallest 

radius found was 270 metres and another 

16 points where the radius was below the 

Above: View of product pipe. 

Below: Successful pipe pull. 

minimum recommended radius of 600 

metres. 

The 270 metre radius was calculated 

to be close to failure under installation 

stresses and beyond failure under operating 

stresses. Due to the large discrepancy 

between the pilot hole minimum radius of 

270 metre and the recommended minimum 

radius of 600 metres a more refined 

analysis of the crossing would be required 

to accurately determine if the current pilot 

hole drill path was in fact acceptable. 

There are a number of methods available 

for calculating the combined stress 

within an HDD drill path. The Tresca, Von 

Mises and limit states approaches are 

all recognised within the CSA Z662 and 

offer varying degrees of conservatism. 

Regardless of the method chosen stress 

is analysed for a pipeline within the HDD 

path for the maximum operational conditions. 

The presence of applied loads in more 

than one direction results in a much more 

complex state of stress than for applied 

loads in only one direction (uniaxial). The 

predominant stresses in pipelines are typically 

biaxial, with internal pressure acting 

in the circumferential (hoop) direction and 

thermal loads and beam bending acting 

in the longitudinal direction. The yielding 

of the steel under these conditions is 

considerably more complex, and there 

are two widely accepted approaches for 

determining the combination of stress in 

various directions that result in yielding 

of ductile material (such as steel); the two 

approaches are the Tresca theory and the 

von Mises theory (Please refer to the conference 

paper for further information). 

The combined stress as per CSA Z662 


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is a biaxial stress, which is a combination 

of hoop stress due to internal pressure 

and longitudinal stress due to bending 

of the pipe to achieve the curved shape 

of the HDD path added to the stress 

imposed on the pipeline due to thermal 

differential. A large positive thermal differential, 

together with internal pressure 

is typically the worst case. 

Shortly after deciding to complete 

the 36 inch ream the project team recognised 

it may not be reasonable to 

expect the 36 inch ream, to improve the 

current minimum pilot hole radius from 

270 metres to the minimum calculated 

radius of 425 metres as calculated in 

the Tresca analysis. This led to another 

refinement of the combined stress calculation. 

A more realistic approach is to 

compute combined stress as per the Von 

Mises formula, which uses similar inputs 

as Tresca with modest time and effort 

required. The Von Mises calculation 

method is also known to be more realistic 

for ductile steel such as employed in 

modern oil and gas pipeline systems. 

For the Pine Creek crossing the soil 

within the drill path was assumed to 

be a ‘soft formation’ based on feedback 

from the drilling contractor, the 

difficulty experienced with down hole 

steering and the results of the geotechnical 

investigation carried out by AMEC 

Earth and Environmental. This resulted 

in the use of soil category A. 

Analysis of the drill path was completed 

using the Von Mises method 

with the above parameters. The resultant 

minimum acceptable radius was 

determined to be 385 metres, a marginal 

improvement on the previous 

425 metres. The 385 metre radius would 

need to be compared to the calculated 

minimum radius in the drill path after 

completion of the 36 inch ream. 

The ream was completed two days 

later. Entec analysed the drill profile 

data and calculated a minimum dogleg 

radius of 284 metres, with a number 

of other radii less than 385 metres. 

The subsequent survey tool run was 

completed later in the same day. Entec 

analysed these results and calculated 

a minimum radius of 170 metres 

with a number of other radii less than 

385 metres. The ever decreasing calculated 

minimum radius confirms that the 

progression of the calculations is from 

conservative to more realistic. 

Pembina and its construction manager 

subsequently decided to pull the NPS24 

pipe, as seen on page 55, into the hole 

and the project team agreed to continue 

analysing the available information to 

determine if in fact the 36 inch reamed 

drill path was acceptable. 

First, the project team completed a 

sensitivity analysis to determine if reducing 

the MOP of the pipeline or increasing 

the pipe grade would be a viable alternative. 

After careful review, the required 

MOP reduction to 4,400 kPa or pipe 

grade increase to 545 MPa were still not 

sufficient to provide acceptability for the 

Pine Creek crossing. 

The next and only viable alternative 

for analysing the crossing was to determine 

the absolute stress level within 

the pipe at this location. The Tresca 

and Von Mises methods are both stress 

based, conservatively not accounting 

for the nonlinear steel properties. Due 

to tight bend radii determined in the 

field, the group agreed to undertake a 

third method of analysis; a nonlinear 

strain analysis, which is permitted by 

CSA-Z662 Annex C as a limit states 

design approach. This strain analysis is 

much more complex than either stress 

method, but it also is a more rational 

and usually less restrictive approach. 

Determination of the longitudinal strain 

with nonlinear steel properties and subject 

to biaxial stresses is performed with 

a finite-element computer program. 

Subsequent to the very detailed review 

of the stresses involved in this installation, 

the current drill alignment was 

supported by Worley Parsons Calgary, 

based on the maximum calculated strain 

being below the maximum allowable 

strain for the crossing using limit states 

analysis. Colt used the minimum drill 

path radius of 170 metres and compared 

the strain at this location to the maximum 

strain allowable for the NPS24 crossing 

pipe. The results were deemed acceptable 

as per the above discussion. 

In addition, Colt has recommended 

running a geo-pig through the crossing 

within two years of the start of pipeline 

operation. This can be used to verify the 

geometry of the pipe within the crossing 

and reconfirm the results of the limit 

states analysis. It is anticipated that the 

final geometry of the drill profile will be 

better than the lowest indicated radius 

of 172 metres. 

The purpose of this article is not to 

support less conservative analysis as 

a general rule for HDD installations but 

rather, given the difficult circumstances 

encountered at the site, to illustrate that 

this method of analysis is applicable and 

required in certain circumstances. HDD 

installations of pipelines beneath pipeline 

route obstructions are technically 

challenging, as are the determination of 

the construction stresses. These installations 

are such that future repair and 

cleanup if a problem develops, are 

not possible or are extremely difficult 

due to the location and depth of these 

installations. Therefore, a conservative 

approach to the design provides some 

assurance that problems should not 

occur at this type of crossing. 

This article is an edited version of a paper entitled 

Does the HDD reaming pass remove extreme 

alignment dog-legs: Case History by James P. 

Murphy, Glen Fyfe, Trevor Giesbrecht and Wes 

Dyck. The paper is to be presented at No-Dig 

2009 Toronto, Canada. Please refer to the paper 

for references and acknowledgements. 

Below: Crossing Alignment at Pine 

Creek- ROW sandwiched between 

adjacent ROWs. 

Rehabilitating New 

York City’s NCA 

By A Noble, D Roberts and A Fareth 

Constructed between 1885 and 1891, the New Croton Aqueduct 

(NCA) in New York State is a 50 km tunnel conveying water from 

the Croton watershed north of New York City to distribution 

systems in the Bronx and Manhattan. The NCA has benefited from 

an extensive design, inspection and rehabilitation program. 

The NCA rehabilitation program 

has been underway in phases since 1993, 

with inspections scheduled to minimise 

outages, allowing this strategic aqueduct 

to remain in service during critical seasonal 

periods. Between 1993 and 1997 

a series of in-tunnel investigations were 

performed in the open channel portion of 

the NCA, consisting of field inspection, 

non-destructive geophysical testing, and 

coring of the brick liner. 

Between November 2004 and 

September 2005, a major inspection 

program was conducted to assess the 

condition of the 11 km long pressurised 

section and all shafts, headhouses and 

blow-off structures along the entire 50 km 

alignment. Inspection methods included 

using an underwater remote operated 

vehicle (ROV) equipped with sonar and 

cameras to inspect the deep siphon, fibre 

optics examinations of probe holes drilled 

through and beyond the brick lining, and 

core holes and geophysical inspections to 

assess properties of the liner and behindthe-liner 

materials. A water pressure and 

test grouting program was conducted 

to assess methods and expected grout 

takes for the rehabilitation work in the 

pressurised sections. The rehabilitation 

program is anticipated to be completed 

in 2010. 

Part 1: planning and design 

The overall concept for rehabilitation 

of the NCA was developed in the early 

1990s, at which time a far-reaching program 

for achieving a logical and practical 

approach to the work was established. 

Since outages could only take place seasonally, 

contracts for any program had to 

be appropriately sized to coincide with 

the seasonal outages, while taking into 

account the operational needs of other 

water supply aqueducts owned and operated 

by NYCDEP. 

The design for the NCA rehabilitation 

was initially based on the results of previous 

investigations performed within the 

aqueduct’s gravity flow section in 1993 

and 1996. The field investigation program 

in 1993 included: 

• Visual inspection of 9.6 km of tunnel 

• Geophysical surveys of 9.6 km of tunnel 

• Remote operated vehicle (ROV) inspections 

• Gould’s Swamp siphon 

• Harlem River siphon 

• Probe and core drilling 

• Fibre optic scope inspection. 

The field investigation program in 1996 

included: 

• Visual inspection of the remaining 29 

km of gravity flow tunnel 

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The NCA is a 3.73 to 4.34 metre diameter, brick-lined circular, and horseshoe-shaped water tunnel. 

Except at two siphons, the aqueduct operates as an open channel conduit from the New Croton Reservoir 

downstream 39 km to the Jerome Park Reservoir in the Bronx. The remaining 11 km is operated as a 

pressurised conduit and includes a major siphon, of circular cross-section, under the Harlem River. A total of 

163 million bricks were used in the construction, enough to build a 48 km wall around Manhattan Island, 

3 metres thick and 15 metres high. 

The aqueduct has a flow capacity of approximately 1,100 million litres of water per and supplies on average 

ten per cent of New York City’s drinking water. The City’s water supply system is operated and maintained 

by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP). Until a partial inspection in 1982, 

the NCA had flowed continuously since its completion nearly 100 years before. Flow tests have confirmed 

that the NCA can convey up to 290 million gallons per day. 


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• Geophysical surveys of 29 km of tunnel 

• Probe and core drilling 

• Fibre optic scope inspection 

• Test grouting program 

• Epoxy mortar lining – test section 

• High quality video recording 

• Walk-through inspections in 5.3 km 

length of pressurised section of NCA. 

In general the design phase focused on 

restoration of the brick lining rather than 

its replacement with concrete or shotcrete. 

Where significant defects had been 

observed in previous inspections and were 

determined to require larger-scale repairs, 

in situ concrete was used. (Figure 2). The 

design phase also considered temporary 

structures, such as the design of standby 

bulkheads to fit inside the shafts in the 

pressurised section of the NCA. These 

temporary bulkheads would serve as a 

means of restoring the service of the NCA 

should it be required to provide water 

to the city in the event of an emergency 

situation elsewhere in the water supply 

system. In addition, the design phase 

included mechanical engineering for the 

inspection and replacement of ageing 

infrastructure such as pipes, gates and 

valves. 

Diagram showing the horseshoe-shaped 

brick liner of the New Croton Aqueduct in 

the gravity flow portions of the alignment. 

The profile on the left shows a typical cutand-cover 

section: the profile on the right is 

typical of the mined sections. Source: The 

City of New York Aqueduct Commission, 

1895. 

Part 2: inspection 

Objective 

The objective of the shaft and tunnel 

inspections was to locate and document 

defects. Information gathered during the 

visual inspection was used to establish 

focal areas for both future repair contracts 

and further field investigation, which 

included coring, probe drilling, fibre optic 

scope inspection and test grouting. 

Inspection of the tunnel and shafts 

The scope of the inspection work 

under the construction contract included 

assessing the condition of the 9.6 km long 

pressurised section of NCA and inspection 

of shafts, headhouses and blow-off structures 

in both the pressurised and gravity 

sections. 

Tunnel inspection was performed 

between stations. Brick-lined portions of 

the tunnel and shafts were sounded, and 

the entire tunnel alignment was visually 

inspected. Potential voided areas were 

recorded in the field log and marked on the 

wall for possible future probe hole drilling. 

The lowest part of the invert was typically 

covered with water 100 to 200 mm deep, 

preventing inspection; but defects were 

noted when observed. 

The siphon under the Harlem River 

extends to a depth of 122 m. The purpose 

of performing an ROV inspection instead 

of dewatering the siphon and performing 

a walk-through inspection, was to minimise 

the risk of the lining buckling due 

to external water pressure acting on an 

empty lining. The siphon has never needed 

dewatering since it was brought into operation 

in 1891. The ROV was equipped with 

high resolution video and dual imaging 

sonar instruments. The objective was to 

verify shaft and siphon lining materials and 

construction features, to assess sediment 

levels and debris accumulations, to locate 

defects and to obtain video and sonic 

records of the structures. 

Testing 

the ground 

Non-destructive geophysical testing was 

performed within Gould’s Swamp and a 

fibre optic testing program was conducted 

at locations that appeared from the visual 

and geophysical investigations to merit 

Test grouting operations in the Bronx pressurised 

aqueduct. 

further investigation. 

Continuous diamond core drilling was 

performed on selected areas of the aqueduct 

to obtain samples of the tunnel lining, 

mortared and grouted rubble, and foundation 

bedrock for material identification and 

laboratory testing to determine engineering 

properties. Test grouting was performed in 

both the Bronx and Manhattan pressurised 

tunnels and at two shaft locations. 

The comprehensive field investigation 

program was used to assess the current 

condition of the NCA and to design a 

rehabilitation program. Overall, the tunnel 

and shafts are in very good condition, 

with reparable leaks or defects at some 

locations. The visual inspection identified 

tunnel defects and the geophysical inspection 

determined the condition of the brick 

liner and the grouted and mortared rubble 

backing. Visual and geophysical inspection 

findings frequently complement the laboratory 

test results. The test grouting program 

successfully stopped or decreased 

inflows into the test areas. The locations 

of abandoned shafts were verified using 

geophysical methods. Investigations of the 

‘soft rock zone’ determined that the area is 

geologically stable. 

There are a total of 49 shafts along the 

aqueduct alignment, ranging from large 

chambers in cut-and-cover sections, to 

small diameter shafts up to 113 m deep. 

Seventeen of these shafts were filled at 

the end of construction and are difficult 

to detect from the ground surface or from 

within the tunnel. Eight shafts were lined 

with a combination of brick and Cast Iron. 

Most were rimmed with granite collars, typically 

350 mm thick, at the surface. Collars 

at the tunnel intersection are up to 600 mm 

thick. Most shafts had steel ladders from 

the ground surface to the tunnel crown 

which often exhibited oxidation, tuberculation 

and/or section loss. The shafts were in 

very good to excellent condition, overall. 

The Harlem River siphon and associated 

structures were successfully inspected by 

a ROV and found to be aligned according 

to historic drawings and without evidence 

of major displacement or defects. 

Heavy groundwater inflow encountered 

after drilling into a water-filled void. Inflow 

rates subsided over the following 48 hours 

and were significantly reduced after grouting. 

Part 3: rehabilitation 

The goal of the project was to restore 

the gravity flow section of the aqueduct 

to optimal operating condition, thus 

extending the lifespan of this significant 

water supply for the New York City 

metropolitan area. A large-scale contact 

grouting program was performed in the 

horseshoe-shaped gravity flow sections 

of the aqueduct, with the objective of 

filling identified voids behind the liner, 

filling fractures in broken mortared and 

grouted rubble and foundation bedrock 

materials, and reducing water infiltration 

into the tunnel. 

Cover depths of the aqueduct vary considerably, 

ranging from a few to hundreds 

of metres, typically consisting of hard 

rock. Primarily mined using conventional 

methods of the late 1800s, construction 

of the NCA also employed cut-and-cover 

methods in several low-lying sections of 

the alignment, totalling approximately 1.6 

km. The NCA passes through numerous 

lithologic changes, fault/shear zones and 

under several significant water bodies, 

including the Pocantico and Saw Mill 

Rivers and the Tarrytown Reservoir. It 

also passes under the Harlem River as a 

siphon at a depth of approximately 122 

metres below grade. 

Soon after construction, reports on the 

NCA from The Aqueduct Commission 

documented prominent defects in the tunnel, 

such as large voids behind the lining. 

More recently, large-scale inspections 

of the gravity flow section, performed 

during the 1990s, and a 2004 inspection 

of portions of the pressurised sections, 

have revealed additional defects, such 

as open and/or deteriorated masonry 

joints/cracks, leaks ranging from trickles 

to several gallons per minute into and out 

of the aqueduct, missing bricks, formed 

openings, and in one place, a rupture 

through the liner with discernible offset. 

Despite these defects, the generally 

good condition of the NCA is remarkable. 

It is not uncommon to traverse several 

miles through the aqueduct without noting 

any significant defects. 

Major liner repair 

Major liner repair work consisted of 

cast-in-place reinforced concrete for filling 

of existing formed openings located at 

or near the crown of the tunnel and areas 

of brick heave located within the tunnel 

invert. Areas requiring brick replacement 

were minimal, totalling only 14.8 square 

metres. 

The successful rehabilitation of the 

38 km long gravity flow section of the 

New Croton Aqueduct resulted from 

good management and positive working 

relationships among the owner, 

the engineering consultants and the 

contractor. The rehabilitation was completed 

on schedule within approximately 

17 months, with crews working a typical 

eight-hour work shift five days a week. 

This is an edited version of a paper by A. Noble, 

D. Roberts and A. Fareth. Please refer to the paper 

for more detailed information, acknowledgements 

and references. 

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disc cutter heads to work through the bore 

at a pace. This ensures a steady flow of 

the rock cuttings, and prevents any significant 

hindrance to the spoil return process. 

For this job, the spoils varied from a powdery 

dirt substance to finger nail clipping 

size remnants. 

The RPM rate must be balanced to 

coincide with the thrust pressure being 

produced by the auger boring machine. 

Throughout the total distance bored, the 

auger boring crew had to keep a careful 

eye on the variable factors that influence 

the amount of thrust to apply including: psi 

level of the rock being cut, total size of the 

bore, rate of spoil return, diameter of the 

cutting head, and overall machine torque 

output and speed. The bore maintained a 

variable output of 220,000 ft-lbs. of thrust. 

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Auger boring through hard rock: 

overcoming the challenge 

by Rob Foster 

Hard rock is the true nemesis of the auger boring contractor, the evolution of auger boring knowhow 

and its increased recognition as a more widely used and understood method of underground 

technology has introduced disc cutter head product tooling. 

The disc cutter concept borrows 

on a smaller diameter platform than the 

cutting method that large tunnelling 

machines utilise to rotate, fracture, and 

remove rock chip spoils from the bore 

path. Manufacturers such as American 

Augers (AA) are developing and seeing 

proven field results in their version 

of the disc cutter head. One example 

of creating success with man, machine, 

and technology is an auger boring job in 

Pennsylvania, USA through an unyielding 

rock formation. 

Cutting through 

The contract in Doylestown, Pennsylvania 

called for the installation of a 37 metre 

long gas pipeline under a two lane roadway. 

Henkels and McCoy subcontracted 

Case Boring Corporation from Gasport, 

Advantages of a disk cutter 

From the perspective of the contractor, the advantage to using a disc 

cutter head is that the unit is mounted directly to the product casing, 

which enhances cutter head stability and allows for longer cutter life. 

The individual cutters are manufactured with high strength steel that 

allows for increased working life because during use they perform a 

rolling motion that creates no friction. The disc cutter also benefits the 

operator by maximising performance in various geological formations 

and is designed to withstand the severe loading of mixed face 

conditions. 

Disc cutter heads have the ability to be industry wide contributors 

because they are compatible to any make or model of auger boring 

machine and auger section that is fitted with a 4 inch or 5 inch hex. 

New York to install the pipeline. 

Confronting the span of the bore was a 

sandstone deposit that the disc cutter was 

more than capable of surmounting, as the 

engineering design is suitable for intrusive 

rock formations up to 25,000 psi. 

Case Boring Corporation representative 

Mark Case said “The AA disc cutter head 

was the exact right choice for the job. It 

was effective and productive in both solid 

and very fissured rock, the type of rock 

that can give a boring contractor fits with 

other types of tooling.” 

The Case Boring crew created a 

15 metre long and 3 metre deep shored 

pit, operating on 30 feet of auger boring 

extension track, which would set the stage 

for either achieving success or create less 

than ideal conditions. 

Using a 1990 model of a 60-1,200 

auger boring machine and a brand new 

36 inch diameter disc cutter head, the 

Case Boring operator began pushing 

the product through the sedimentary 

landscape at a steady rotational speed. 

Maintaining consistent speed in a slow, 

but optimum range of 17 – 25 RPM allows 

Excavator 

An excavator was also used when the 

excavator bucket was placed on the product 

casing in close proximity of the disc 

cutter to apply pressure and to aid in the 

stability of the cutter as the machine made 

the initial penetration of the rock wall. 

This practice is typical for most disc cutter 

head jobs because the critical nature 

of the cutters first contact with earthen 

embankment will create some vibration 

that if not supported or monitored could 

cause the line of the bore to be compromised. 

The excavator was withdrawn 

shortly after the entire disc cutter had 

disappeared into the formation, and the 

vibration ceased because the head and 

the product casing was now shrouded 

in the compact composition of the earth, 

and the operators of the bore had settled 

the machine into a ‘sweet spot’ that would 

allow them to steadily progress. 

The bore 

The bore was done at zero percent 

grade. If maintaining line and grade is 

required, the disc cutter is equipped with 

power assisted steering jacks, ensuring 

steering corrections can be made with 

ease. In total, it took one and a half days 

to complete the bore. A traditional auger 

bore, without the disc cutter, would have 

been difficult and time consuming. 

AA Field Service Technician Jim Lee 

said “Using conventional product tooling 

this bore would have been possible, but 

we may have only been able to bore five 

to eight feet per day. I know from experience 

using a traditional rock cutting 

head in that type of sandstone would of 

required constant maintenance in replacing 

the carbide bullet tips every two or 

three feet.” 

Mr Case agreed, “Without the disc cutter 

the bores would have taken three times 

longer to complete, involving considerable 

re-tooling and time spent pulling and 

reinserting the auger. The head turned 

very easily, greatly reducing wear and 

tear on our auger string and drive train.” 

Auger boring for tough conditions 

Auger boring and its associated 

equipment or tooling, like disc cutter 

heads, are typically less expensive and 

reduce downtime more so than the conventional 

practice of open trenching. 

In neighbourhoods, metropolitan zones, 

wetlands/waterways, and in infrastructure 

development areas auger boring 

creates less physical disruption and can 

save a considerable amount of expense 

on product installation, reduce restoration 

costs and provides a tremendous 

amount of goodwill to the community and 

its inhabitants. 

Another down time limiting factor for 

disc cutter heads is that the large diameter 

of the head allows the head to retract 

from the face without moving the product 

casing. Having a retractable cutting 

head also allows for cutter change and 

service that can be accomplished outside 

of the heading. 

Auger boring itself is a test of both man 

and machine, but when those two factors 

are confronted with tough ground formations 

that can stress human emotions and 

mechanical muscle, the real test is how 

utilising proven practices and today’s 

technology, like disc cutter heads, can 

prevail in complicated situations. 

“The disc cutter head will allow us to 

make bores in a much more cost effective 

way than ever before. We will be 

able to entertain boring longer crossings 

than ever before due to the easy turning 

nature of the head and the unique steering 

advantages the head give us,” said 

Mr Case. 

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HRX: heading across the harbour 

A record was recently set on the Virginia Natural Gas Hampton Roads Crossing (HRX) HDD bore. 

Project Manager Les Flora spoke with Trenchless International about the innovative and challenging 

project. 

The aim of the project is to support 

distribution company Virginia Natural Gas 

(VNG), a subsidiary of AGL resources. 

The project itself comprises 21 miles 

of 24 inch diameter pipeline, extending 

transmission gas facilities under Hampton 

Roads Harbour, Virginia. The harbour is 

one of the largest natural harbours in the 

world. The harbour is also home to the 

largest naval base in the world and has 

a significantly high degree of commercial 

maritime traffic. The crossing of the harbour 

itself includes four miles of pipeline 

from Newport News to Newport News. 

In addition the project involves an 

HDD crossing of the Elizabeth River. 

This crossing demanded a 7,300 feet 

(2,225 metres) HDD drive in 24 inch pipeline 

– a bore record. 

Project Scope 

Currently, the VNG distribution system is 

divided into two non-contiguous pipeline 

systems – southern and northern – due 

to the geography of the Hampton Roads 

harbour. On a peak day, each system is 

fed by a single gas supplier; Columbia 

Gas Transmission in the Southern system 

and Dominion Transmission in the 

Northern system, making them vulnerable 

to gas disruptions. This project will ensure 

reliability of supply and future availability. 

The project includes the construction 

of approximately three miles of onshore 

pipeline in Hampton, four miles of onshore 

pipeline in Newport News, four miles of 

onshore pipeline in Norfolk, and ten miles 

crossing the Hampton Roads Harbour. 

The project will also include upstream 

pipeline compression facilities in Hanover 

and Charles City Counties, and a city 

gate station at the termination point in 

Norfolk. 

Design and construction 

The marine construction project team 

included Weeks Marine, Mears Horizontal 

Directional Drilling and Bradford 

Brothers. 

Weeks Marine is the general contractor 

on the marine portion, providing all of 

the marine equipment and diver support. 

Mears and Weeks teamed up to complete 

the HDD with their pipeline subcontractor, 

Bradford Brothers. 

Crossing the harbour 

The harbour crossing consists of five 

separate HDDs ranging in length from 

3,000 – 3,800 feet. 

Mr Flora said that Trenchless 

Technology was selected for a number 

of reasons. The two main drivers were 

the environmental permits and the US 

Army Corps permits required as the pipe 

path bisected an anchorage area. 

The Marine Resources Commission 

is very active in protecting the area. 

Alternative methods such as conventional 

dredging, laying pipe on the bottom 

or even jetting it in were considered. 

However, Mr Flora said that “because of 

the environmental impacts, or I should 

say, perceived environmental impacts, 

the Marine Resources Commission would 

not permit it. So we had to directionally 

drill under their biggest area of concern. 

“On the Army Corp side there is 

approximately 5,000 feet of pipe to go 

under an anchorage area. The anchorage 

space is so valuable to the maritime 

community that the decision was made 

to directionally drill this section of the 

pipeline.” 

Finally, a natural shipping channel is 

also a part of this crossing. Mr Flora said 

that the company was aware that this 

section would be directionally drilled in 

order to reach the depth that would be 

required under the channel. 

The depth of the channel is 15 metres 

with a design depth of 19 metres. The 

drill path was required to be a minimum 

of 6 metres under the design 

depth. Therefore the shipping channel 

drill was approximately 25 metres below 

the water. 

Mr Flora continued “Three of [the 

drives] are marine to marine drills so 

we’re drilling from a barge and the 

receiving rig is on another barge. 

“We’re building those pipe sections 

out on the end of Craney Island, which 

is basically a beach, out into the harbour 

and then towing those sections by tying 

them to tug boats. Towing them off the 

end of the island and floating them into 

place and then sinking them and then 

hooking them back to the drill rigs for 

the pull back.” 

Mr Flora said there is also another area 

requiring trenchless expertise. “We are 

doing a bunch of small directional drills, 

on the Upland piece of this project. We 

have 7 miles (11.2 km) of pipe on land 

in Newport news, and about 4 miles (6.4 

km) in Norfolk. They are very heavily 

urban quarters, there are just not a lot of 

good places to put pipe, much less 24 

inch pipe.” 

For example, for the first mile onshore 

of Newport News, the pipe was directionally 

drilled under a tidal wetland creek as 

there was not a less congested route for 

the pipe. This pipe was separated into 

two drills, each approximately 2,800 feet 

(853 metres). Mr Flora said that space 

was incredibly tight, “the pipe looked 

like a pretzel wrapped around a tree.” 

Mr Flora said that without Trenchless 

Technology the sections directionally 

drilled, in most cases, could not have 

been completed in an alternative method 

in a cost effective way. 

A challenging crossing 

The Elizabeth River crossing was one 

of the most ambitious and challenging 

parts of the project as this demanded 

the laying out of a string of pipe 7,300 

ft long. 

Fortunately Craney island, a government 

owned area, is located right in 

the middle of the project. The island 

is a US Army Corps dredge disposal 

management area. The contractors had 

to share the very small island area with 

Army Corp Engineers and the associated 

traffic. 

Mr Flora explained that the Dominion 

University is located on the other side of 

the river where the pipe was to be pulled 

back. During the semester this area is 

filled with approximately 24,000 students. 

Therefore the team could only operate 

from 12 May until 20 August. 

Elizabeth River Crossing: pullback. 

Elizabeth River Crossing. 

Harbour Crossing: pull head with 

hose connections for pipe flooding. 

Elizabeth River Crossing: pullback. 

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“We had a very tight window to get 

the work done, which meant that had 

anything had delayed the project we’d 

have been stuck there in that parking lot 

and probably incurred some very high 

costs. 

“Fortunately, we made the time, in fact 

we got out 20 August around noon, and 

the University opened the next day and 

the students came back into the dorm.” 

Elizabeth River Crossing 

Length: 7,300 feet (2,225 metres) 

Diameter: 24 inches 

Pilot hole: 660,000 lb. drilling rig 

Pullback: 22 hours 

Community Consultation 

The project began in August 2006. 

In the initial months, VNG developed 

a communications plan and contacted 

regulatory agencies and elected officials 

at both a state and city level. The public 

watchdog groups were also included in 

the environmental issues encountered 

when planning the project. 

Mr Flora explained “We spent a lot of 

time with those folks, talking to them. 

They saw the benefits, especially in 

crossing the harbour. They were the 

first groups to really talk about drilling 

as opposed to dredging, to protect the 

environment. So we were looking at drilling 

all along from the beginning of that 

project.” 

Keep in touch 

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Future 

The transmission network will increase 

the supply to up to 100,000 tonnes a 

day into the southern region and will 

also move another 25,000 decathons to 

Columbia Gas in Virginia to their account 

in Portsmouth. 

The HRX project is scheduled for 

completion by November 2009. Once 

operational, the gas pipeline will ensure 

a reliable supply well into the future for 

the communities of Virginia. 


Subscribe online by entering the code TND09 at 

64

HDD is the key to the 

Keystone Pipeline 

by Lyndsie Mewett 

TransCanada is undertaking an innovative, cost-competitive way to accommodate the expected 

growth in Canadian crude oil production over the next decade. The Keystone Pipeline project is unique 

compared with other projects in that it combines both the construction of a new 2,219 km pipeline in 

the US and the conversion of an existing 864 km existing pipeline from natural gas to oil service. HDD 

is essential to preserve the stunning landscape and achieve the necessary river crossings. 

“The challenge for the 

Pembina River HDD is 

ensuring we protect the 

special features and the 

natural beauty of the area 

while getting the pipe in place 

to deliver oil.” 

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The 3,456 km Keystone Pipeline is also 

set to serve the interests of the United 

States by providing a secure and reliable 

supply of Canadian crude oil to meet 

the growing demand by US refineries 

and markets. TransCanada spokesperson 

Cecily Dobson says that the project is 

seen as an innovative and economic way 

to accommodate the expected growth in 

Canadian crude oil production during the 

next decade. 

Canada is the largest importer of crude 

oil to America, supplying 2.2 MMbbl/d. 

TransCanada has secured commitments 

for 910,000 bbl/d over an average term 

of 18 years for the Keystone Pipeline. Ms 

Dobson says that this represents 83 per 

cent of the system’s commercial design. 

Approximately 2,219 km of new pipeline 

is to be constructed in the United States. 

The Canadian portion of the project 

includes the construction of approximately 

373 km of new pipeline and the conversion 

of approximately 864 km of existing 

TransCanada pipeline from natural gas to 

crude oil transmission. 

HDD: protecting the environment 

The project crosses several large rivers, 

including the Mississippi, Missouri, South 

Saskatchewan and Red Deer rivers, using 

horizontal drilling technology. 

TransCanada spokesperson Terry 

Cunha outlined the details of one HDD 

The pipeline 

The pipeline is set to be 76 cm 

in diameter to Illinois and 91 

cm from the Nebraska/Kansas 

border to Cushing, Oklahoma. 

The pipeline will be buried with 

a minimum depth of cover of 

1.2 m, depending on land use. 

The estimated operating 

pressure of new pipeline 

sections will be 9,930 kPa. The 

existing pipeline proposed 

for conversion to crude oil 

transportation will be operated 

at its current approved 

allowable operating pressure of 

6,067 kPa. 

drive, the Pembina River crossing, west of 

Walhalla. The North Dakota State Forest 

Service acquired 432 acres of Pembina 

Gorge land in 1970 that now is Tetrault 

Woods State Forest. In May 2006, the 

Forest Service started to negotiate with 

representatives of Keystone Pipeline. 

The commission said TransCanada had 

to use HDD to bury the pipe in some 

locations, including parts of Pembina and 

Sargent counties. The technique will avoid 

the need to cut down trees in the Tetrault 

Woods state forest, and a Sheyenne River 

Valley scenic area in North Dakota's southeastern 

corner. 

In Pembina County, the crossing 

involved setting up a drill rig on the 

south side of the Pembina River. A 4 to 

6 inch diameter pilot hole was drilled at 

an inclined angle, 7 to 9 metres below the 

surface of the ground and river. 

Sections of pipe were then hooked to 

the drill head and pulled on rollers through 

the hole, under the river, to the other side 

a distance of 1,051 metres. Bentonite 

clay was used to fill the hole around the 

pipeline. 

The drive involved approximately 15 

workers in making the hole to feed the 

pipe under the Pembina Gorge. 

Mr Cunha said that similar to other 

HDD drives on the project, “the challenge 

for the Pembina River HDD is ensuring 

we protect the special features and the 

natural beauty of the area while getting the 

pipe in place to deliver oil.” 

Stakeholder involvement at length 

Not only is the Keystone Pipeline project 

unique in the fact that it involves the conversion 

of an existing pipeline, but the 

project's length means that it is being 

overseen by various provincial, state and 

federal regulators in both Canada and the 

United States. 

Ms Dobson says that a comprehensive 

stakeholder engagement program, developed 

and adapted to specific stakeholder 

needs according to the nature, location 

and potential effects, has been implemented. 

Stakeholders include landowners and 

residents; community leaders; federal, 

provincial and local elected representatives; 

aboriginal and Native American 

stakeholders; regulatory agencies; emergency 

services organisations; special 

interest groups; and, co-located right of 

way owners. 

“We recognise the importance of incorporating 

public input into our project 

plans,” says Ms Dobson. “We believe 

that through consultation we can address 

questions and concerns, and integrate 

important public input into our activities. 

“We share project information and 

gather input throughout the planning 

phase and incorporate feedback into our 

project design and implementation as 

appropriate,” she says. 

Converting to oil 

Converting the existing facilities and 

constructing new facilities in Canada, 

North Dakota and northern South Dakota 

began in 2008, while construction of 

new facilities in South Dakota, Nebraska, 

Kansas, Missouri and Illinois will begin 

this year. 

“It is estimated that more than 5,000 

individuals will have worked on the design 

and construction of the Keystone project 

by the time it’s been completed,” says Ms 

Dobson. 

Ms Dobson says that the first task of the 

converting of the natural gas pipeline to 

oil service was to isolate the natural gas 

pipeline from the other pipeline to which it 

was interconnected. Existing natural gas 

in the pipeline was transferred to other 

natural gas pipelines using a portable 

transfer compressor. 

According to Ms Dobson, the greatest 

challenge of the conversion was to 

separate the converted pipeline from the 

other gas pipelines in a safe manner while 

ensuring there was no impact to existing 

shippers. 

Once the pipeline has been purged of 

natural gas, it will be ready for the removal 

of drip tanks and tie-over assemblies. 

Following the isolation of the pipeline, 

an in-line inspection using a pigging tool 

will be completed to ensure the integrity 

Timeline 

of the pipeline and that it is ready for oil 

service. 

Overcoming challenges 

In addition to the challenge of the HDD 

crossing, Ms Dobson said the weather was 

also a factor to be overcome. The Keystone 

project experienced some extremely wet 

conditions during the 2008 construction 

season. In North Dakota, it was one of 

the wettest years recorded in history. Ms 

Dobson said that TransCanada was forced 

to extend the construction season later 

into the year and postpone clean up until 

2009. 

Keystone Wood River Pakota – expected to be in service in 2009 

Keystone Cushing – expected to be in service in 2010 

Keystone Gulf Coast – expected in be in service in 2011 

Keystone Steele City – expected to be in service 2012 

north america 


66 

67

Undersea HDD rescue 

in Saudi Arabia 

About ISTT/Membership 

The ISTT is the umbrella organisation for trenchless technologists in over 40 

countries of the world. In 22 countries groups of trenchless technologists have 

their own national groups which are affiliated while the remainder are registered 

directly with the ISTT. 

In 2007-08 a pioneering HDD project was started using Trenchless 

Technology on the Berri Causeway and Abu Ali Island on the 

Persian Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia. Two parallel 3,050 metre long 

steel pipelines were to be installed under the bay. 

Trenchless technology covers the repair, maintenance, upgrade and new 

installation of underground utility services using equipment and techniques 

which avoid or considerably reduce the need for excavation. The ISTT promotes 

research, training and the more extensive use of trenchless technology 

through publications, co-operation with other NGOs, an annual international 

conference and an interactive website. 

oil and gas 


The smaller 24 inch pipe was to be 

used as an oil trunk line and the larger 

30 inch, with a total steel pipe weight 

of more than 1,500 tonnes, to serve as 

a water injection line. The project was 

reported to be the world’s longest undersea 

HDD crossing. 

In November 2008, Middle East specialist 

HDD contractor Digital Connection Co 

Ltd of Al-Khobar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 

sought technical advice and assistance 

in the recovery of a 42 inch hole-opener 

that had become stuck along with the 

3 km drill string beneath the seabed during 

a pre-ream pass on the second of two 

subsea pipeline crossings. 

The Berri Causeway pipeline project in 

the Middle East was always seen as a big 

challenge. Both the length of the crossings 

and the dimensions of the pipeline, 

which would weigh more than 1,525 

tonnes, were testing the boundaries. 

While the first 24 inch oil pipeline had 

previously been successfully installed, 

unforeseen delays between the drilling 

process over a twelve week, non-working 

period had caused the drill string and 

the 42 inch hole-opener to become stuck 

on the second, 30 inch pipeline crossing 

and installation. 

They had little time to provide a solution 

to releasing the 3 km stuck drill string 

and 42 inch hole-opener. 

However, emergency discussions 

between TT-UK, the main contractor, and 

the local drilling contractor quickly led to 

a response. The company recommended 

using the Grundoram Taurus impacting 

hammer combined with steel pipe adaptations. 

The adaptations were designed 

and formulated to transfer dynamic 

impact performance energies through 

special steel fabrications adapted to the 

drill string via the Grundoram dynamic 

impacting hammer. 

Sharing the project information with 

other TT Group offices in the USA and 

For further information please contact TT UK LTD (+44) 1234 342566 

fax: (+44) 1234 352184 email: info@tt-uk.com website: www.tt-uk.com 

Germany, TT-UK drew up a strategic 

plan together with a technical proposal 

on how they believed the drill string could 

be freed up using dynamic impact vibration 

energy. 

While similar successful undertakings 

had previously been carried out 

worldwide, few have been attempted for 

releasing stuck drill rods over such an 

exceptionally long distance, with each 

drill rod weighing 480 kg. Dynamic 

impact vibration energies have normally 

been placed on the end of product pipes 

for assistance in completing HDD (ram 

assist), or using HDD techniques for 

product pipe retrieval where the product 

pipe has become stuck. Few undertakings 

had previously attempted with stuck 

drill rods due to the enormous impact 

power that has to be contained onto a 

relatively small size drill rod (6/58th) from 

a large impacting hammer in a usable 

and controllable process. 

The Project owner is Saudi Aramco. 

The main pipeline contractor is Al Robaya 

and the HDD subcontractors are DCL 

and TATCO. The combined efforts from 

all companies and the personal attendance 

on site of Roger Atherton of TT-UK 

proved invaluable to the success and 

final retrieval of this problematic drill 

bore taking TT’s Grundoram and pipe 

ramming technologies to a new level of 

HDD ram assist, pipe/drill stem rescue 

method. Following bore-hole salvage the 

3 km, 30 inch water injection pipe-line 

was finally and successfully installed on 

13 January 2009. 

This rescue prevented significant 

financial implications such as the total 

cost of a lost drilled bore, any contractual 

penalties and ongoing cost delays 

in commissioning the final pipelines. 

Associated costs involved in planning a 

new bore and the actual costs of duplicating 

all the undertakings of a new bore/ 

installation. 

ISTT Membership/Directory 

Please complete the following form. 

Please note: Entry in the ISTT Directory is free to Corporate 

Members 

but only if the Industry Sector is completed. 

Alternatively, you can fill in this form online at www.istt.com. 

MEMBERSHIP TYPE 

Corporate Membership 

COMPANY DETAILS 

Company/Organisation Name: 

Name of Affiliate: 

Please write ISTT if there is not an ISTT Affiliate in your country. 

CONTACT DETAILS 

Title: 

First Name: 

Position: 

Department: 

Address: 

City: 

State/County: 

Zip/Postal Code: 

Country: 

Telephone: 

Email: 

Website: 

Trenchless technology is recognised as an Environmentally Sustainable 

Technology and is particularly suited to use in densely populated urban 

areas by reducing disruption to peoples daily lives, social costs (traffic congestion, 

damage to road surfaces and buildings, air quality), noise and dust. 

Trenchless technologies also have a considerably reduced carbon footprint 

compared to trenching in most situations. 

Ordinary Membership 

Last Name: 

Fax: 

INDUSTRY SECTOR 

Please select the industry sector that 

best describes your company, multiple 

selections can be made. Please check all 

relevant boxes. 

Agent 

Consultant 

Contractor 

Site Survey / Inspection / 

Leakage Detection 

Off Line Installation / Replacement 

Moling / Ramming 

Boring / Directional Drilling 

Pipe jacking / Microtunnelling 

On Line Replacement - 

Pipe Bursting / Splitting / Eating 

Repairs 

Internal Sleeves / Seals 

Resin Injection 

Robotic Repairs 

Renovation 

Cured in Place 

Sliplining (incl. spiral wound) 

Close Fit Lining 

Spray Lining 

Large diameter Systems 

(incl. segment lining, in situ lining 

and manholes) 

Equipment / Materials Supplier / 

Manufacturer 

Equipment Rental 

Public Sector / Utility 

Water / Sewerage 

Gas 

Electricity 

Telecoms 

Other 

Education / Research / 

Test Laboratory 

the international society for trenchless technology 


68 

69



Contacts and Addresses of Affiliated Societies 

AATT 

Osterreichische Vereinigung 

fur grabenloses Bauen und 

Instandhalten von Leitungen (OGL) 

Schubertring 14A-1015 Wien 

AUSTRIA 

Tel: +43 1 513 15 88/26 

Fax: +43 1 513 15 88/25 

Email: boccioli@oegl.at 

www.oegl.at 

Chairman: Robert Selinger 

Member Secretary: Ute Boccioli 

Int. Representative: Ute Boccioli 

(boccioli@oegl.at) 

ABRATT 

Al. Olga, 422 cj. 97 

Barra Funda – CEP 0155-040 

Sao Paulo - SP 

BRAZIL 

Tel: +55 (11) 3822 2084 

Fax: +55 (11) 3825-2414 

Email: secretaria@abratt.org.br 

www.abratt.org.br 

Chairman: Paulo Dequech 

Member Secretary: Fábio Tesarotto 

Int. Representative: Sergio Palazzo 

(Fax: +55 19 3881 3933) 

ASTT 

18 Frinton Place 

Greenwood 

WA 6024 

AUSTRALIA 

Tel: +61 (0)8 9420 2826 

Fax: +61 (0)8 9343 5420 

Email: jeffpace@astt.com.au 

www.astt.com.au 

Chairman: Menno Henneveld 

(menno.henneveld@mainroads.wa.gov.au) 

Member Secretary: Jeff Pace 

Int. Representative: Jeff Pace 

(jeffpace@astt.com.au) 

BATT 

Koprinka Lake Village 

Kazanlak 

6100 

BULGARIA 

Tel: +359 2 4901381 

Fax: +359 431 63776 

Email: info@batt-bg.org 

www.batt-bg.org 

Chairman: Mr. Stefan Zhelyazkov 

Member Secretary: Pavel Gruev 

CHKSTT 

10/F Hing Lung Commercial Building 

68-74 Bonham Strand East 

HONG KONG 

Fax: +852 81487764 

Email: info@chkstt.org 

www.chkstt.org 

Chairman: Ian Vickridge 

(vickridgeig@BV.com) 

Vice Chairman: Jon Boon 

(JBoon@insituform.com) 

Int. Representative: Derek Choi 

(derekchoi@balama.com) 

Treasurer: Ray Fung 

(ray.fung@towngas.com) 

CTSTT 

Rom 3150, 3F., No.3, Beiping W. Rd., 

Zhongzheng District, 

Taipei 

TAIWAN 

Tel: :+886 2 2312 0709 

Fax: +886 2 2362 1268 

Email: anitawu@mail.water.gov.tw 

Chairman: Liao, Tsung-Shen 

General Secretary: Su, Jin-Long 

(steven@mail.water.gov.tw) 

Secretary: Anita Wu 

(anitawu@mail.water.gov.tw) 

Int. Representative: Prof. D.H Jlang 

CzSTT 

Bezova 1658/1 

147 14 Praha 4 

CZECH REPUBLIC 

Tel: +420 244 062 722 

Fax: +420 244 062 722 

Email: czstt@czn.cz 

www.czstt.cz 

Chairman: Stanislav Drabek 

(czstt@czn.cz) 

Member Secretary: Dr Jiri Kubalek 

(czstt@czn.cz) 

Int. Representative: Stanislav Drabek 

FiSTT 

Pl 493 

00101 Helsinki 

FINLAND 

Tel: +358 5 7495091 

Fax: +358 5 7495010 

Email: jani.vakeva@kymenvesi.fi 

www.fistt.net 

Chairman: Mikko Isakow 

(mikko.isakow@kouvola.fi) 

Int. Representative: Mikko Isakow 

Member Secretary: Jani Vakeva 

(Tel: +358 5 2344757) 

Secretary: Jani Vakeva 

(jani.vakeva@kymenvesi.fi) 

FSTT 

4 rue des Beaumonts 

F-94120 Fontenay Sous Bois 

FRANCE 

Tel: +33 1 53 99 90 20 

Fax: +33 1 53 99 90 29 

Email: fstt.paris@wanadoo.fr 

www.fstt.org 

Chairman: Patrice Dupont (President) 

Executive Director: Dominique Guillerm 

(dguillerm.fstt@aliceadsl.fr) 

Int. Representative: Jean-Marie Joussin 

(jeanmarie.joussin@hobas.com) 

General Secretary: Christian Legaz 

(christian.legaz-avr@wanadoo.fr) 

Treasurer: Jérôme Aubry 

(jaubry@chantiers-modernes.fr) 

GSTT 

Messedamm 22 

D-14055 Berlin 

GERMANY 

Tel: +49 30 3038 2143 

Fax: +49 30 3038 2079 

Email: beyer@gstt.de 

www.gstt.de 

Chairman: Prof. Dipl-Ing Jens 

Hoelterhoff 

Member Secretary: Dr Klaus Beyer 

Secretary: Dr Klaus Beyer 

Int. Representative: Dr Klaus Beyer 

IATT 

Via Ruggero Fiore, 41 

00136 Rome 

ITALY 

Tel: +39 06 39721997 

Fax:+39 06 91254325 

Email: iatt@iatt.it 

www.iatt.it 

Chairman: Paolo Trombetti 

(paolo.trombetti@telecomitalia.it) 

Member Secretary: Françoise Roccetti 

Hudebine 

(iatt@iatt.it) 

Int. Representative: Alessandro Olcese 

(2005emanuele@alice.it) 

Secretary: Feliciano Esposto 

(esposto.feliciano@virgilio.it) 

IbSTT 

C/ Josefa Valcarcel, 8 – 3a PTLA. 

28027 Madrid 

SPAIN 

Tel: +34 91 418 23 44 

Fax: +34 91 418 23 41 

Email: ibstt@ibstt.org 

www.ibstt.org 

Chairman: Alfredo Avello 

Member Secretary: Elena Zuniga Alcon 

Int. Representative: Alfredo Avello 

JSTT 

3rd Nishimura BLDG. 

2-11-18 Tomioka 

Koto-ku 

TOKYO, 135-0047 

JAPAN 

Tel: +81 3 5639 9970 

Fax: +81 3 5639 9975 

Email: office@jstt.jp 

www.jstt.jp 

Chairman: Mr Taigo Matsui 

(office@jstt.jp) 

Executive Secretary: Yoshihiko Nojiri 

(nojiri@jstt.jp) 

Member Secretary: Kyoko Kondo 

(kondo@jstt.jp) 

LIATT 

V.Gerulaicio str. 1 

LT-08200 Vilnius 

Lithuania 

Tel: +370 5 2622621 

Fax: +370 5 2617507 

Email: arturas.abromavicius@sweco.lt 

Chairman: Arturas Abromavicius 

(President) 

Member Secretary: Arturas 

Abromavicius 

Int. Representative: Arturas 

Abromavicius 

Algirdas Budreckas (Chairman of Council) 

NASTT 

1655 North Fort Myer Drive Ste 700 

Arlington 

Virginia 22209 

USA 

Tel: +1 703 351 5252 (US) 

+1 613 424 3036 (Canada) 

Fax: +1 613 424 3037 

(also Membership) 

Email: info@nastt.org 

www.nastt.org 

Chairman & International 

Representative: Chris Brahler 

(cbrahler@tttechnologies.com) 

Vice Chairman: George Regula 

Treasurer: Kaleel Rahaim 

Secretary: Keith Hanks 

(keith.hanks@lacity.org) 

Executive Director: Mike Willmets 

(mwillmets@nastt.org) 

Assistant Executive Director: 

Angela Ghosh 

(aghosh@nastt.org) 

ESC Member: Dr Samuel Ariaratnam 

NSTT 

Postbus 483 

2700 AL Zoetermeer 

THE NETHERLANDS 

Tel: +31 (0)79 3252265 

Fax: +31 (0)79 3252294 

Email: info@nstt.nlwww.nstt.nl 

www.nstt.nl 

Chairman: Theo Everaers 

(mjceveraers@lievense.com) 

Secretary: Jelle de Boer 

(J.deBoer@bouwendnederland.nl) 

Int. Representative:Gerard (Gert) Arends 

(g.arends@citg.tudelft.nl) 

PFTT 

25-001 Kielce 1 skr. Poczt. 1453 

POLAND 

Tel: +48 41 3622145 (600328459) 

Email: parkaa@tu.kielce.pl 

www.pftt.pl 

Chairman: Andrzej Kuliczkowski 

Vice Chairman: Mr Wlodzimierz Pala 

Member Secretary: Anna Parka 

(parkaa@tu.kielce.pl.) 

Int. Representative: Andrzej Kuliczkowski 

Secretary: Marek Banasik 

RSTT 

Moscow area, Odintsovskii region, 

Marfino, 99, 143025, 

RUSSIAN FEDERATION 

Tel: +7 (495) 771 71 00 

Fax: +7 (495) 771 71 00 

Email: np-robt@mail.ru, robt@co.ru 

www.robt.ru 

Chairman: Stanislav Khramenkov 

Member Secretary: Elena Gusenkova 

Int. Representative: Andrey Sinitsyn 

SASTT 

PO Box 13048 

CLUBVIEW 

0014 

South Africa 

Tel: +27 (12) 567 4026 

Fax: +27 (12) 567 4026 (ask for Fax) 

Email: director@sastt.org.za 

www.sastt.org.za 

Chairman: Johann Wessels 

Honorary Director: Joop van Wamelen 

Member Secretary: Joop van Wamelen 

SSTT 

Box 7072 

S-174 07 Stockholm 

Sweden 

Tel: +46 8 522 122 90 

Fax: + 46 8 522 122 02 

Email: lennart.berglund@stockholmvatten.se 

www.sstt-skandinavien.com 

Chairman: Magnar Sekse 

(magnar.sekse@bergen.kommune.no) 

Vice Chairman: Gerda Hald 

(gh@ov.dk) 

Secretary (SSTT): Lennart Berglund 

(lennart.berglund@stockholmvatten.se) 

Member Secretary (Danish): 

Tina Juul Madsen (tjm@wtc.dk) 

Member Secretary (Norweigan): 

Odd Lieng (odd.lieng@rorsenter.no) 

Member Secretary (Swedish): Kjell Frödin 

(kjell@vretmaskin.se) 

UAMTT 

9A R.Karmen Str. 

Odessa 65044 

UKRAINE 

Tel: (380 482) 356305 

Fax: (380 482) 356305 

Email: no_dig@blacksea.od.ua 

www.no-dig.odessa.ua 

Chairman: Victor Prokopchuk 

ESC Member: Olga Martynyuk 

(Olga_marty@ukr.net) 

UKSTT 

38 Holly Walk 

Leamington Spa 

Warwickshire 

CV32 4LY 

UK 

Tel: +44 (0)1926 330 935 

Fax: +44 (0)1926 330 935 

Email: admin@ukstt.org.uk 

www.ukstt.org.uk 

Chairman: Steve Kent 

(steve.kent@pipe-equipment.co.uk) 

(Tel: 01642 769 789) 

Member Secretary: Val Chamberlain 

(admin@ukstt.org.uk) 

(Tel: 01926 330 935) 



70 

71

ADVERTISERS INDEX 

SUBSCRIPTION FORM 



American Augers 38 

Barbco 50 

BKP Berolina Polyester GmbH 31 

Brandenburger Liner GmbH 29 

Engineering 2009 

IBC 

Hanlyma 19 

HDD Broker and HDD Auction 22 

Hermes Technologie GmbH 35 

Herrenknecht AG 

IFC 

HOBAS Engineering GmbH 47 

IBAK Helmut Hunger GmbH 34 

IDS Ingegneria Dei Sistemi S.p.A 15 

KA-TE PMO AG 33 

Mears Group, Inc. 11 

Permaform 41 

Prime Drilling GmbH 54 

Prime Horizontal 9 

RWF Bron 45 

SEKISUI CPT GmbH 

OBC 

Sprayroq 55 

Tracto-Technik GmbH 13 

VueWorks 39 

Coming in future issues 

July 2009 October 2009 Directory/Yearbook 2010 January 2010 

Regional Focus Ukraine / Japan UK 

Industry Focus 

Inspection & Condition 

Assessment 

Risk Management 

Microtunnelling & Pipe 

Pipe Bursting 

HDD 

Major Features 

Jacking 

CIPP 

This indispensable reference Relining option 

Relining Tools 

guide will include: 

Utility Close-Up Water Electricity & Communications Wastewater 

Technology 

Products and 

Equipment 

Extra 

Circulation 

Manholes 

Resins 

Drilling Fluids / Pumps 

& Mud Systems 

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Utility Location 

Drilling Equipment 

Trenchless Australasia 2009, 

Melbourne, Australia 

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Cheltenham, UK 

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Louisville, Kentucky, USA 

Fully indexed listings of all 

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* Please note the updated deadlines. 

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DEADLINE 8 May 2009 31 July 2009 30 October 2009 27 November 2009 

72

conference, exhibition, technology shows 

Supported by: 

Ministerstwo 

Infrastruktury 

prof. dr hab. inż. 

Kazimierz Furtak Rektor 

Politechniki Krakowskiej 

Engineering 

2009 

1 6-18 J une 

TOMASZOWICE 

Near Krakow 

P O L AND 

prof. dr hab. inż. 

Antoni Tajduś 

Rektor AGH 

Polski Komitet 

Geotechniki 

Związek Mostowców 

Rzeczypospolitej 

Polskiej 

Room 1• networks inspection and monitoring 

• networks rehabilitation 

• pipes in trenchless technology 

• HDD 

• cables in city underground infrastructure 

• pipe jacking and microtunnelling 

Room 2• tunnelling 

• underground construction 

• geoengineering 

• bridges 

• hydro-technical construction 

General sponsor: Panel sponsors: 

Supporting sponsors: 

Polskie Stowarzyszenie 

Technologii 

Bezwykopowych 

Polska Fundacja 

Technologii 

Bezwykopowych 

Polskie Zrzeszenie 

Wykonawców 

Fundamentów Specjalnych 

Izba Gospodarcza 

Wodociągi Polskie 

Organisers: 

www.i-b.pl/conference/ 

Inżynieria Bezwykopowa sp. z o.o. 

31-305 Kraków 

ul. Radzikowskiego 1 

tel. +48 12 351 10 90 

fax +48 12 393 18 93 

e-mail: biuro@i-b.pl

North American Special - Trenchless International

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