Survey of Pipeline Rehabilitation Techniques

This report was produced for the Urban Water Research Association of Australia, a now discontinued research program.

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Report No UWRAA 82

July 1994

SYNOPSIS

Many of Australia’s urban water authorities are responsible for the management of water supply pipelines and sewers constructed in the late 19thCentury. Many of these aging pipelines now require rehabilitation, replacement or augmentation.

In recent years water authorities have witnessed a worldwide explosion of technologies and techniques specifically aimed at pipeline rehabilitation. Trenchless technologies developed in Europe, Japan and America are being exported by licence agreements with local companies.

This survey involved the collection of information from Australian water authorities and specialist contractors in this field. The results have been collated and analysed to provide an information data base for water authorities throughout Australia, so that they can benefit from their colleagues’ experience.

Theresults of the survey have shown that there is an emergent industry inAustralia specialising in trenchless technology techniques for therehabilitation of water and sewage pipelines. There are more than 40proprietary products now available and at least 35 authorities have experiencewith one or more of these.

Thereis a wide range of level of satisfaction with the finished products byauthorities, which has been influenced by differences in contractor skills,levels of product application, and the expectations and technical expertise ofthe users.

Someauthorities have already developed significant technical expertise andexperience, and their specifications and procedures provide quality assuredresults.

Lessexperienced authorities are more reliant on information supplied by contractorsand suppliers who may or may not be sufficiently expert to assure a satisfactoryfinished product.

The move to trenchless technologies for the rehabilitation of water supply pipelines and sewers is influenced by the communities insistence on minimised disruption and cost effectiveness.

The selection of particular techniques over others is related to the availability of contractors with a proven track record in the field.

The study has identified particular needs for research and testing to enable more precise definition of achievable standards, and for increased education of users to ensure that appropriate expertise is used to specify and evaluate trenchless technology works. The study has also identified desired improvements in the various technology methods, which should provide a useful guide to contractors and suppliers, and lead to improved products and systems.

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