Pipe Bursting

Many types of small sewers are inaccesable, running across gardens, under walls, fences, roads and buildings. Replacement by traditional excavation in such locations, if possible, could involve considerable expense and inconvenience. The hydraulic Pipe Burster requires only two small access points, an entry and an exit, and only two operators. The old sewer pipe is totally replaced by a new polyethylene pipe or similar.

This method is by far the simplest and best known among trenchless replacement methods. A cone-shaped tool is pushed or pulled through the inside of the old pipe to be replaced, breaking it up and forcing the broken fragments into the ground.

The tool tows the new pipeline behind it, simultaneously installs it in place as it burst the old line. The bursting tool has a slightly larger outside diameter than the new pipe and of course it is bigger than the inside diameter than the inside of the old pipe.

Depending on the size of the bursting tool, new pipes of the same size or larger than the original can be installed.

This process is used to replace pipelines made of friable, easily broken materials such as cast iron, clay, concrete and cement asbestos. Thus it is used primarily in pipeline replacement, the broken pieces of clay or concrete do no harm to the incoming new pipe which is typically polyethylene or PVC.

Applications:

• Environmentally Sensitive Areas
• High traffic areas
• Crossings - highways, roads, railways, waterways
• Crossing private property where surface restoration can be costly

Imagine being able to replace the entire water supply and drainage system of a city without causing a major traffic jam and incurring the enormous cost of restoring your streets and roads. That is the promise of trenchless technologies like pipe bursting.