April 2009 Vol. 64 No. 4
Rehabilitation
CIPP Leaves Diverse Attractions Undisturbed
From the downtown convention center to the scenic outskirts, Reno, NV, offers many attractions to live up to its billing as “The Biggest Little City In The World.” When choosing a contractor for a sewer rehabilitation project that involved both busy downtown and more remote idyllic settings, city of Reno engineers selected cured in place pipe (CIPP) specialist PIPEnology to avoid disrupting the city’s activities.
PIPEnology’s sewer repairs were installed from existing manhole access points to eliminate the need for disruptive and potentially damaging excavation. At the downtown site, a major convention was able to continue without rescheduling. At the Rosewood Lakes Golf Course site, the homes and scenery in this quiet and picturesque neighborhood were undisturbed.
For both sites, CIPP was a much faster process than tearing up surface streets, so traffic and business could return to normal quickly. The consulting engineering firm responsible for initial design and overseeing construction on the project was Brown and Caldwell’s Phoenix branch.
“Each job site presented its own challenges,” said Ryan Broyles, president of PIPEnology.
“The work in the downtown area had to be completed in a narrow, three week time window to accommodate event scheduling for the convention business. For the downtown work, we lined 5,468 linear feet of 30 to 42 inch diameter pipe, including an installation that crossed under the Truckee River.”
The Rosewood Lakes Golf Course work upgraded 66 and 72 inch diameter pipe. Broyles said the distance between manholes in the Rosewood Lakes area severely limited access to the host pipe. “To eliminate excavation, individual installations of more than 2,000 feet were a necessity,” he pointed out.
How CIPP works
CIPP technology rehabilitates aging or damaged pipelines by constructing a new liner inside the existing host pipe. Liner construction starts with a special felt tube of predetermined dimensions and length. The felt is impregnated with resin then inserted into existing manholes to eliminate or minimize the need for excavation.
Water pressure introduced into the resin impregnated tube moves the tube forward and inverts it along the walls of the host pipe. When the entire length of tube has been inverted, heat is introduced, typically by heating the water used during insertion.
The heat accelerates a chemical reaction that cures the resin from a liquid state to a molecularly crosslinked solid with excellent corrosion resistance and durability. The result is a new seamless liner. Robotic equipment cuts openings to reconnect laterals to the main pipe.
The recent sewer rehabilitation in Reno by PIPEnology totaled 25,285 feet of 8 to 72 inch diameter sanitary sewers. More than 40 percent of the work involved pipe that was 60 inches in diameter or more.
For this work, PIPEnology chose Vipel corrosion resistant resin from AOC, a global leader in resins for sewer infrastructure. “Because of the excellent teamwork involved, including prompt AOC service and delivery, we were able to get the CIPP phase of the work completed in less than five months,” Broyles stated.
Managed and operated by professionals with over a decade of experience and expertise, PIPEnology specializes in cured in place pipe (CIPP) rehabilitation of pipelines of all sizes and materials.
AOC is a leading global supplier of resins, gel coats, colorants, additives and synergistic systems for composites and cast polymers. Cured in place pipe systems and other sewer rehabilitation are priorities and areas of expertise for AOC.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
CIPP contractor: PIPEnology, (916) 408-5038, www.pipenologyinc.om
Resins: AOC, (630) 665-2675, www.cippresins.com
Consulting engineer: Brown and Caldwell, Phoenix office, (602) 567-4000, www.brownandcaldwell.com
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