Flexseal coupling innovation saves money on motorway project
Projects to create Smart motorways are now a familiar feature of England’s highways and can be frustrating for motorists stuck in the queues created by roadworks. But innovative pipe connections by Flexseal are helping to speed up the drainage work involved and could reduce the amount of disruption in future.
A recent example of Icon internal couplings being used to save time and money was a Highways England Smart Motorway project between Junctions 16 and 19 of the M6. Existing main pipelines needed connecting into new manholes/catchpits, however they were surrounded by concrete providing no external pipe surface for a traditional coupling.
Contractors needed a quick and cost-effective solution for connecting existing pipes without the need to break away the surrounding concrete from the existing clay pipe. It was found in Flexseal’s Icon Internal Couplings, which were used to connect pipes using their internal surfaces.
Project details
Part of the critical path for this project involved extensive works to the motorway’s existing drainage network, including the addition of new drainage sections.
The original drainage network for this section of the M6 was installed in 1963 and contractors working on the project came across several outdated methods when digging up the old pipelines.
For example, in most cases, pipes had been encased in concrete, causing significant problems when new sections were required or the old pipes needed connecting into new manholes and catchpit chambers. Contractors had been breaking away the concrete by hand to expose the external surface of the pipes to connect a traditional coupling.
However, the combination of the extremely old and therefore hard concrete and brittleness of the old clay pipes meant that the pipe would often break after hours of hard labour, meaning the contractor would need to chase back the concrete even further down the line. The outlook for this method was project delays and project overspend.
After hearing about the problem, UK-based flexible coupling manufacturer Flexseal suggested using its range of Icon Internal Couplings, which are designed to connect to the internal surfaces of two pipes to make a secure and watertight connection.
The contractors were advised to make a clean cut through the concrete and old pipe using a Stihl Saw instead of excavating the concrete surround.
The contractors could then insert the coupling into the bore of the existing clay pipe, insert the new pipe onto the opposite end of the coupling and tightened to the correct torque.
Using the Icon Couplings drastically reduced connection times and led to cost savings of approximately £240,000.
Benefits to the project were:
- Reduction of installation time from 4-6 hours using traditional methods to just 1 hour using the Icon Coupling.
- Health and Safety risks were reduced, with requirements for concrete excavation eliminated.
- Planning improvements for future projects identified as the Icon ensures a near certain design can be achieved and unexpected problem pipe have less impact on the project.
- Savings of each connection on average 600 pounds.
- Product approved by Highways England and endorsed as best practice for this scenario on future projects.
Ends
Flexseal
Tel: 01226 340 888
Email: sales@flexseal.co.uk
Web: https://www.flexseal.co.uk/
More images from this case study here