- +27 (0) 10 446 5706
- gp@orsco.co.za
- Plot 13, RD 5, Brentwoood Park, Gauteng, 1501
Client:
The City of Ekurhuleni
Situation / Problem:
The city of Ekurhuleni took urgent emergency measures when a burst 16bar pressure, potable DN600mm Steel Pipeline was reported at the cnr of Kliprivier & JG Strydom Street, in the
Alberton area. The houses and adjacent affected area was under water, the possibility of large sink holes forming was a reality.
Solution:
The first challenge was to locate and isolate the leak. But due of the location of the P.R.V. Valve and the noise it generated, traditional
correlation, leak detection could not be used.
The only emergency option was to drain the line and inspect it with a crawler. Blix was called in, their crawler identified 35 meters in the concrete enclosed pipeline there was a severe breach in
the line, 43 meters away from the other pit.
Excavation and replacement of the pipeline at this point was not an option, due to the importance of keeping the road open, the pipeline being encapsulated in concrete under the road as well as the
time factor. By this time the residents of the area were in an uproar and had been without water for 14 days. The situation had become dire.
Orsco (Pty) LTD were then commissioned by Badjadi Investments (the Ekurhuleni main contractor) to assist with an emergence CIPP Patch Repair on the line.
Further pits were created by Badjadi Investments and dewatering of, pipe preparation, grinding and complete access was created by Polycorp.
Using specialised grinfing and cutting pipeline tools, practicing all pipeline entry HSE requirements, Orsco (Pty) LTD entered the pipeline to grind away the copon coating. Removing half a meter every 45 minutes, then alternating the teams so that work would not stop. After many hours of grinding, Orsco were finally able to see the extent of the damage, a 31cm longitudinal crack was finally exposed.
Considering the damage to the line and after Polymer engineering calculation, preparation for the lining process, (the lining material and potable epoxy) was mixed, cut, and prepared at Nu Cure Laboratories.
It was decided that Orsco would install a 2 layered Multiactual patch in the pipeline.
The 1st layer, a 1-meter, super 1600GSM, structural tube, which would prevent the water infiltration of the pipeline, and the 2nd layer being a 2-meter, multi-layered hybrid liner, made up of 2 x Super GSM structural tubes combined with 2 Fiberglass Layers.
This patch was built specifically to withstand the 16 -20bar working pressure once the line was commissioned.
The project took 48hours to complete, and Nu Cure Laboratories structural liner created a seamless and extremely hard pipe patch.
Ekurhuleni recommissioned the line and the community had water once again.
