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CONSTRUCTION WORLD
JUNE
2017
48
PRECAST CONCRETE PRODUCTS
Since its founding by local pioneer
Jean-Louis Frey in 1987, Esor Tuboseal
has established itself as a past master in a
highly specialised discipline which enables
pipes to be cleaned, rehabilitated or repaired
almost completely underground without
disturbing the surface area over the length
of the line.
Through sheer drive and belief along with
proven techniques and delivery, it created
the Cured In Place Pipe (CIPP) market with
customers and contractors in the Western
Cape and a number of other provinces,
before expanding its footprint as far north
as Bulawayo.
World-class
TRENCHLESS TECHNOLOGIES
The acquisition of trenchless technology specialist Tuboseal by Esor
is set to unlock a wealth of future business opportunities for the
construction and civil engineering contractor.
Esor CEO Wessel van Zyl regards the
development as a strategic diversification
into the burgeoning market of infrastructure
maintenance and rehabilitation, with a major
focus on pipelines.
Preserving infrastructure
Using advanced trenchless techniques to
replace pipelines in fragile and complex
environments, Esor Tuboseal gained a
reputation for successfully completing jobs
its rivals chose to avoid. A byproduct of this
process was the establishment of a solid
track record among municipal authorities
and major players in the construction
industry. It remains a key objective of Esor
Tuboseal to build and retain the credibility of
trenchless technology, for the greater good.
“We’ve reached a point where several
municipalities and some businesses are
piping water and sewage in lines that are 50
years old – and in some cases well beyond
that,” says Van Zyl, making the point that
what was constructed on the surface when
the pipes were originally laid has often
changed beyond all recognition.
“Pipelines will inevitably have to be re-
placed or rehabilitated, but in busy urban ar-
eas or major industrial installations, gaining
access by digging is simply not an option.
“Safety is the first consideration. Many
lines were laid at depths of between four
and 15 metres, which would entail highly
disruptive excavations to create a safe
working area with adequate support to
protect the crew. In any event, the likelihood
of the presence of other utility lines like
power cables would make this impossible,”
he says.
Van Zyl also makes the point that to
restore the integrity and efficiency of
pipelines installed under or alongside major
freeways and link roads (he cites the William
Nicol Highway as an example), would cause
unacceptable disruptions to traffic flows. If
this was not bad enough, resurfaced areas
would be a fertile breeding ground for the
South African motorist’s biggest bug bear –
the pothole.
Technical challenges
Esor Tuboseal’s research and development
technical solutions specialist, Daniel
Bruwer, describes two recent projects in
which trenchless technology was applied to
mitigate some serious consequences.
“The first concerned the discovery of
a damaged underground pipe at Eskom’s
Kusile power station, which required repairs
to a crack at a depth of 17 metres. The
pipeline was impossible to excavate as it
lies beneath permanent structures.
“Having established the exact location
of the damaged section, we designed
and installed a CIPP liner capable of
withstanding ground water pressure and
soil loads at a depth of 17 metres, thereby
reinforcing and sealing the damaged pipe
for a full design life of 50 years. The repair
took less than 8 hours and there were no
disruptions to services on site,” says Bruwer.
The second development is the
rehabilitation of the BlackMac bulk sewage
pipeline, a key conduit between the Cape
Town suburbs of Blackheath and Macassar.
“The City of Cape Town approached
Open Crown inversion.