Going Trenchless

Article from the October 2009 Issue of Cleaner Magazine

By Ken Wysocky

Contractors talk about their chosen methods of pipe rehabilitation and how they help win business and satisfy demanding customers

When it comes to pipe rehabilitation, there’s no one-size-fits-all application. Cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) might be great for one kind of repair, but not for another. Slip-lining could be just what the doctor ordered in some situations, while pipe-bursting could be better for others.

But whatever the application, one thing is as clear: Trenchless repair capability provides another revenue stream for contractors, and makes their services more attractive to prospective customers who want the convenience of one-stop shopping. Here is a sampling of what some contractors say works best for them.

“Anybody who does any type of sewer work needs a lot of tools in their toolbox when they go out, and therefore you need the ability to understand what applications work in what situations,” says Charles Higbee, vice president of Eckard Brandes Inc. in Kailua, Hawaii. “Historically, we worked a lot with CIPP in the 1990s and found it a very effective lining, but very challenging.

“In a lot of ways, you can make a small mistake and have a catastrophic problem. But if everything goes well, you're a hero and it looks simple to install. It’s a challenge, but a good liner end to end.

“A lot of times we use a product that uses microfine cement to infiltrate cracks and go around the outside of the pipe slightly and seal off the infiltration. It works really well on mainlines and laterals. It’s a cost-effective way to seal a pipe, but not a structural way to seal a pipe. It works hand-in-hand with a lot of other things.

“We also use an epoxy liner, which is a spiral-wrapped fiberglass liner that expands to meet the pipe. We can install it in intermittent areas – short areas where we don't have to go whole length of pipe. Epoxy is about four times stronger than CIPP and doesn't shrink.

“Another big benefit with these point repairs is that we have a flow-through situation, so we don't have to bypass for any reason. We can just let the flow draw this in, expand it and in two or three hours it’s set up. It’s an ambient-cure epoxy.