MacKellar, Lowe, Ingham, Ashdown
Installation # 2006 Washington DC
Polyethylene (PE) is the preferred material for 90% of all water mains laid in the UK. The pace of renovation of dilapidated cast iron water networks has led to the increasing demand for coils of flexible PE pipe, driven by the efficiency of using less joints and taking up considerably less space in the congested urban street environment. However, there are drawbacks with coiled PE pipe, including significant ovality and axial curvature, which cause many difficulties when trying to join coiled pipe ends in the trench. This is particularly true for the larger diameter, thicker wall, coiled pipes, notably PE100, 180mm SDR11. The ability of a tilted orifice plate to remove axial curvature and re-round pipe has been known since the mid 1990’s, however lack of commercially available equipment and too many unanswered questions have killed development. Bodycote PDL, with the support of the UK Water Industry, have re-examined the technical difficulties and believe these have been resolved sufficiently to enable a cost effective, easy to use device to be produced. The coiled pipe straightener is now providing the required solution.
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