October 2012, Vol. 67 No. 10
WaterWorks
Hanson Enhances Manufacturing Capabilities At Florida Plant
Hanson Pressure Pipe has expanded the manufacturing capabilities at its Palatka, FL, plant, enabling increased production of larger-diameter, longer-laying lengths of B-303 Bar-Wrapped Concrete Cylinder Pipe (B-303). The first B-303 installation project since the enhancement is taking place in Portsmouth, VA, utilizing 36-inch diameter, 32-feet long pipes.
The plant was originally constructed in 1980 to supply 192-inch outfall pipe for Florida Power & Light’s nuclear power-generating plant. It was expanded from 1982 to 1987 to produce smaller-diameter pressure pipe and again in 2004 to add B-303 at 24 inches to 48 inches in diameter and 20 feet lengths. Today, the Palatka plant is able to produce B-303 up to 60-inch diameters and 40-feet lengths.
“The expansion in Florida has been seamless; it not only gives us another production line, but expands our market potential with a product we’ve been making for several years in other parts of the U.S.,” said Charlie McAuley, vice president operations for Hanson Pressure Pipe.
B-303, considered a flexible pressure pipe, offering the tensile strength of steel and the corrosion protection properties of concrete. It is a durable, semi-rigid pressure pipe designed to withstand internal pressure and external loads simultaneously. It will deflect slightly from external loads and obtain some supporting strength from the lateral pressure of the soil backfill.
The City of Norfolk, VA, is currently installing 4,100 feet of 36-inch diameter B-303 for The Cage Pipe Replacement Project, Phase One at 5000 West Norfolk Road in Portsmouth. Hanson’s bar-wrapped pipe is replacing vintage concrete pipe from the 1920s supporting a raw water main.
Hanson Pressure Pipe began manufacturing B-303 in 1947 and has supplied more than 30 million feet (5,700 miles) throughout the U.S. It is best used for water transmission, distribution and sewer force mains, reclaimed water, gravity sewer, treatment plant and industrial process lines as well as principal spillways for dams.
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