TPi October 2010

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October 2010 Tube Products International 53
Italian water technology
Water is fundamental to life. The first urban settlements were
established near natural water resources, before the building of
aqueducts rendered life possible where water was non-existent
or scarce. This primary asset is still given the utmost attention,
dedicating its safeguard to the best of technologies.
A noteworthy modern aqueduct is being completed in the
Sultanate of Oman, in As Seeb. The gigantic development
consists of eight projects that together will create a new
infrastructure of potable water, sewerage and irrigation for the
new district of Oman’s capital, Muscat, a city that embraces
close to one million inhabitants.
450km of HDPE pipes are being laid, requiring accurate and
comprehensive study and planning. HDPE was chosen for
its stability, duration and hygienic qualities. The main stern is
constituted by OD 900mm pipes, SDR 11; secondary branchings
start with OD 560mm pipes. The diameter of the ducts reduces
progressively as the peripheral waterworks systems are
reached.
Arab Contractors and NUEV Sultanate of Oman joint venture
opted for the Italian welding technology of Ritmo SpA to butt
fuse the pipes. Ritmo’s Delta machines have passed all the tests
and proven themselves to be reliable, precise and practical under
such demanding circumstances and prescheduled deadlines.
The most critical job was given to three Delta 1000 machines,
which were assigned the welding of the entire OD 900mm main
stern. The welding
of these pipes
had to be perfect
in order to allow
the entire system
to keep operating
without failure for
generations to
come.
One of the Delta 1000 machines featured a crane to assist
and accelerate the operations. The welding of the secondary
branchings was done with other machines from the Delta family:
Delta 630, Delta Dragon 315B, Delta Dragon 250B, and Basic
160.
The fabrication of the fittings (bends, Ys, tees and crosses), used
to complete the infrastructure and take the water to every house,
was also entrusted to Ritmo’s systems: the Sigma 400 Pro band
saw machine was used to cut the pipes into segments that were
successively welded together with the Alfa 400 CTB, one of
Ritmo’s workshop fittings welding machines. Once the weldings
were completed, the ducts were buried at a depth of 2 to 3m.
Ritmo SpA – Italy
•
Pipe laying in Oman