Hole In One: A Trenchless Pipe Repair Case Study
Repairing a pipe doesn’t always mean a full pipe replacement. With trenchless pipe repairs, our team is able to do a full manhole to manhole repair of a pipe without digging along with smaller point repairs if needed. Here we’ll go in-depth with a lining job where we were tasked with five separate line repairs at a country club. At this site, our team repaired multiple stormwater pipes to provide proper stormwater drainage for teeing off. The Rehoboth Beach Country Club is a country club with an 18 hole golf course surrounded by homes. It sits right off of Rehoboth Bay, which opens up to the Atlantic Ocean. As a result, much of the stormwater is connected to the saltwater-filled bay. Salt makes water more conductive, which allows for faster movement of oxygen from the water through metal. This accelerates corrosion in metal pipes causing them to rust and fail much faster compared to areas where primarily freshwater travels through pipes.
We start all of our pipe repair jobs by performing an initial CCTV video pipe inspection. Sometimes we find that a pipe can be repaired using trenchless methods when we’re called out for an initial inspection. Here we were able to see the shells of horseshoe crabs that show that the rising tides of the bay brought saltwater into the pipes — along with the corrosion it had caused. This also allows us to determine whether or not a trenchless repair is viable based on the structural integrity of the pipe. In all of the five lines we inspected, the pipe runs were deteriorating and in need of repair. Along with the initial inspection, we also cleared out debris and dewatered the pipes to ensure that the repair goes on without any failures.
After inspecting and cleaning the pipe, we started the preparation for the repair. We started this process by rolling out and inserting a glide foil into the base of the pipe. This glide foil ensures that the resin-coated lining system can easily be pulled into the pipe with a winch and pulley system from the other side, creating less friction and ensuring the liner doesn't rip or tear on the host pipe (one of the field technicians referred to it as a “pipe lining slip and slide”). The liner is then pulled into the pipe underneath a tarp to prevent damage to the liner from the UV rays of the sun. Once the resin-coated liner was pulled into the pipe, our team fired up the air compressor to start the liner inflation process. Caps are put on both ends of the liner to keep air inside the liner as it expands to the shape of the pipe, keeping it tight to the original structural size and flow capacity.
A UV blue light curing system is inserted into the inflated pipe and travels to the end of the pipe and is slowly pulled back through to finish curing. Compared to other methods, this blue light curing method allows for inspection of the line as it cures. This system helps us prevent having to redo our work if there’s an issue. After curing, the liner was able to be cut at the ends and restored to working conditions without excavating and surface restoration. Across five different sewer lines, we were able to provide a cost-effective repair that’ll last for years to come. If your team needs a trenchless pipe repair, our team at Trinity Subsurface has the solutions for your sewers to bring your sewers up to par. Find out more information about pipe repairs and our full suite of utility services by visiting our website.
