In 1971, the successful rehabilitation of an egg-shaped sewer in London was the world’s very first installation using a cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) lining solution. Insituform founder, Eric Wood, invented the CIPP process
40 years ago and the year 2011 marks the 40th anniversary of not only CIPP and Insituform, but the pipeline rehabilitation market as we know it today.
Insituform controlled the patents to the CIPP process until 1994, giving the company time to build its brand and presence in the market place. Expiration of the patents opened up doors for competitors to challenge Insituform and expand the pipeline rehabilitation market as a whole. Incredibly, Insituform has retained the world number one market share position, while continuing to develop new technology and expand into other markets.
In the mid to late 1970s, Eric Wood was busy improving the CIPP process, which included a change to the water temperature needed to cure the liner, and the addition of water pressure as an installation method of CIPP. These changes led to increased installation production, greater resin stability and increased shelf life of a resin-impregnated liner. The process obviously held great potential, but many asset owners and consulting engineers in the conservative sewer industry were reluctant to try CIPP. Not only was it new, it was different –radically different to traditional dig and repair methods.
Today, the advances in technology, speed of setup and installation certainly surpass that of the very first CIPP installation. Back then, Eric Wood impregnated a felt tube with polyester resin, wrapped it in a plastic sheet, dragged it 70 m into the 1168 mm by 610 mm diameter egg-shaped brick sewer, inflated it with air and left it to cure. The pipe was fixed.
This original 1971 liner was tested in 1991 and again in 2001. The tests show that 20 years on, the pipe’s flexural modulus and strength values exceed current standards in the United Kingdom by 30 per cent. Similar results were shown at the 30 year test. These results demonstrate just how strong and flexible the product is in its application. The results also demonstrate that the planned 50 year design life of the liners is conservative, especially when considering the advances in material and installation technology over the past 40 years. Insituform plans to re-test the pipe for its 40th anniversary later this year, and has no reason to believe it won’t provide similar results.
The Insituform CIPP process has rehabilitated more than 30,500 km of underground pipe infrastructure throughout the world. Today, Insituform’s products and services are used in more than 36 countries worldwide, with pipeline operations on six continents.
Insituform still continues to invest heavily in new product research and development, as well as existing product improvements. Being in control of the manufacture of most products puts Insituform in an enviable position to innovate.
In the last ten years, Insituform has focused heavily on the development of new rehabilitation technologies for pressure pipe lining, as well pipeline protection products for both existing and new installations.
Considering the rapid development of the pipeline rehabilitation industry over the last 40 years, it is incredible to try to imagine the potential of the industry over the next
40 years.
