Contractors were required to abandon an in-ground water pipe and construct a new main: however, removing the pipes using traditional dig methods wasn’t possible as the old pipeline ran underneath a highway, school and private land.
The pipe’s construction and placement less than a metre underground meant there was a risk that it could rust and collapse, potentially damaging the structures above it; the safest and most effective approach was to fill the pipe.
The solution Mainmark provided was Terefil®, a new lightweight cementitious grout solution able to be pumped across long distances, enabling the project to be completed in just four days.
“One of the key features of Terefil is its pumpability,” said Mainmark Group Technical and Research and Development Manager William Lindsay.
“Mainmark placed more than 400 m3 of Terefil along 620 m of the 900 mm diameter pipe in a single shift.
“At its peak, the Mainmark team pumped 68 m3 of Terefil per hour. As a result, the pipe was safely filled without damage or inconvenience to the school or any local property owners.
“A conventional approach would involve digging up to seven holes to access the pipe, which would take approximately a week to complete.”
Mainmark has also been active in remediating pipe infrastructure assets using ENCAP6®, an anti-corrosion spray-on polymer coating solution with chemical resistance, hydrolytic stability and abrasion resistance, which can be used to rehabilitate and prolong the life of ageing steel or concrete infrastructure.
It can be applied in varying thicknesses to prepared concrete, brick, earthenware, vitreous and metal surfaces to effectively seal and protect the substrate, while delivering long-term structural performance.
In a project to rehabilitate a galvanised steel drainage pipe located below three factories, Gladstone Council utilised ENCAP6 to coat the drain with ENCAP6 and support the pipe by applying expanding engineered resin beneath it.
This allowed the council to prevent the risk of the pipe collapsing due to the surface weight of structures above, while also avoiding excavation, which delivered a significant cost saving.
For more information visit the Mainmark website.
If you have a project you would like featured in Trenchless Australasia contact Managing Editor Nick Lovering to discuss promotional opportunities at nlovering@gs-press.com.au