The village of Baldwin, Ill., recently made the decision to replace a failing 40-year-old clay tile sewer main with a new 10-in. gravity sewer, featuring 600 ft of CertainTeed Certa-Lok C-900/RJ restrained joint PVC pipe.
Since the new sewer main had to be installed in a high traffic area, parallel to a main village street and under a state highway and a set of railroad tracks, Rhutasel and Associates Inc., of Freeburg, Ill., the village’s consulting engineers, chose directional drilling as the method of installing pipe for the new sewer. The engineers specified Certa-Lok C900/RJ pipe for its strong performance in directional drilling applications, the company said.
“We specified the Certa-Lok C-900/RJ restrained joint PVC pipe mainly for its rigidity and ability to withstand stretching that may occur from the pulling force of the directional drilling rig,” said Travis J. Liefer, staff engineer for Rhutasel and Associates. “We needed a product that would be able to resist any minor deflections that may be in the actual bore itself. The Certa-Lok pipe met those needs.”
Certa-Lok C900/RJ is a PVC product, ideal for both water and wastewater applications. Its joining system, which utilizes a spline to connect pipe lengths, holds the pipe together during installation and pressurization, while elastomeric O-rings provide a pressure seal. More than 35 million ft of Certa-Lok pipe has been successfully installed with trenchless methods since 1991, according to the company.
The village of Baldwin hired contractor Korte-Luitjohan Contractors Inc., of Highland, Ill., to install the gravity sewer main and build a new sewage lift station. The contractor used a Vermeer directional drill and a DCI Digitrak F2 Drill-Head Locator with target steering crew to make a 600-ft bore. The bore began at a depth of 14 ft and ended at a depth of 17 ft, meeting grade requirements all the way. The installation took eight days, and the installed pipe was then camera tested for sags and deflections, and it passed.
“Certa-Lok provides outstanding leak resistance and holds up to the rigors of pipe pullback in directional drilling installations,” said Steve Gross, director of R&D and technical services for CertainTeed’s Pipe business. “The pipe is easily assembled, without the need for time-consuming and expensive joint fusion. And, most importantly, Certa-Lok requires a much thinner wall than HDPE pipe for an equivalent pressure rating, which significantly cuts material, drilling and operating costs.”
Thanks to the use of directional drilling, traffic suffered only minor, short-term disruption and there was no disruption to the railroad, Illinois Highway 154 or businesses in the area, according to the company. In addition, grading, seeding and roadway repairs were minimized by avoiding open trench installation.
“The rigidity of the Certa-Lok pipe eliminated the need for a casing under the railroad and highway areas,” said Kevin Korte, directional bore superintendent for Korte-Luitjohan Contractors. “We also found it easy to handle and install. It performed very well for us during the installation.”
Source: CertainTeed
