The selection of pipe material is an important consideration when designing road, river and rail crossings and other trenchless installations.
Here, we look at the most utilised types of pipe selected for trenchless applications.
There are a number of pipe types currently available on the Australasian market, each with unique properties better suited to different installation and rehabilitation techniques.
There is no one universal pipe material that is suited to all forms of Trenchless Technology.
Polyethylene pipe
PE pipe is manufactured in Australia in sizes up to 2 m diameter (DN2,000).
It is lightweight and flexible with an allowable bending radius of 20-25 times the outside diameter of the pipe.
This flexibility reduces the need for fittings and makes PE pipe excellent in shifting soils, or for installation over uneven terrain.
PE pipe can be supplied in straight lengths or in coils, reducing the need for joints and fittings, and can be jointed using butt and electrofusion techniques or using mechanical fittings.
Butt welding involves the heating of two pipe ends to fusion temperature and then subsequently joining the two ends by the application of force.
In trenchless applications, butt welding is used to create one large pipe string with a smooth outside surface.
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