TPi January 2016

Pipe rehabilitation and repair

Is it worth it? This is the question that underlies every decision about rehabilitation and repair. As applied to pipe, the best answer is supplied by CIPP (cured-in-place pipe), the technology instituted in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s that accounts for over 100 million pipe feet installed worldwide. A company prominent in the multibillion-dollar international CIPP industry offered some reasons for this wide acceptance. Among them: CIPP rehabilitates partially as well as fully deteriorated pipe, and its smooth inner surface increases the flow capacity of the existing pipe. CIPP eliminates inflow and infiltration as well as exfiltration. It spans a diameter range 4 to over 120" and has been used on sections of pipe over 3,000ft in length. CIPP adapts to non-circular pipe configurations (ovals, boxes, bends and transitional diameters). Robust to extremes of temperature and pH, it sees service in gravity, internal pressure and vacuum applications.

The list goes on, but probably the point has been taken. Is the repair/rehabilitation of pipe “worth it”? It is – very much so.