Abel Recon Uses Trenchless Technology to Rehab Pipe Through Open Trench
Abel Recon cures trenchless CIPP through open trench during stormwater rehabilitation
One of my favorite sayings to clients and engineers is “if we put a shovel in the ground, we’ve messed up.” We are ‘trenchless’ experts after all. But what happens when the trench just forms itself?
Here we have a stormwater pipe in a right-of-way where the existing pipe has rusted away. Until we came in to flush the line clean, nothing was holding the dirt up except itself. In preparation for a pulled-in-place liner rehabilitation, during the routine cleaning of the segment, the flushing had eroded the remaining dirt away. Which left the underground pipe exposed to the open air.
After the initial reaction of “oh crap,” our team was able to asses the condition of the rest of the pipe and realize we could continue with the installation. We started by removing the collapsed dirt and cleaning up the rest of the hole so nothing interferes with the installation. Followed by one final flush and the pipe was ready to be rehabilitated.
Rehabilitation starts with pulling the new liner into the host pipe. Once the liner is in place, it’s inflated to take the shape of the existing pipe. The new liner, which is completely encapsulated within an inner and outer film, can be inflated through the open trench unrestrained thanks to the Alphaliner’s fiberglass core. Once inflated, the inspection and the ultraviolet curing process can begin. The whole curing process taking about an hour before returning the line to service.
Thanks to the industry leading strength of Reline America’s Alphaliner, we were able to backfill and compact soil directly on top of the newly cured liner and re-seed. The significance of this capability was highlighted when you considered all the utilities and landscaping that would have needed to be removed if the pipe would have needed replacing.
Kudos to the Abel Recon team for rolling with the punches and delivering as promised. Even in the face of a trench during the trenchless CIPP rehabilitation.
