No-Dig is an annual conference held by the North American Society for Trenchless Technology (NASTT). This past April, the conference was held in San Diego and hosted more than 1,600 attendees.

In its effort to educate the public on trenchless solutions, NASTT offered 2007 Product of the Year awards in categories for both rehabilitation and construction.

“We like to recognise new developments in the industry,” said John Hemphill, Executive Director of NASTT.

According to Mr Hemphill, the iplus Composite pipe was selected from over a dozen entries in the Rehabilitation category. “The judges chose iplus Composite because although composite technology has been around for years, the process and application from Insituform is new and innovative,” he said.

The award was presented to Alex Buehler, Vice President of Marketing and Technology for Insituform, and David Hahn, Insituform’s Engineering Manager. Insituform holds three patents related to composite pipe technology.

iplus Composite pipe is a cured-in-place-pipe (CIPP) lining system reinforced with carbon fibre and/or corrosion resistant fibreglass materials. Only fibres that are resistant to the corrosive environment found in sewers are used. Carbon and Advantex™ fibreglass materials have excellent chemical resistance to materials found in sewers and exceed trenchless industry corrosion requirements.

The iplus Composite laminate design theory optimally locates the structural reinforcing materials, reducing the pipe wall thickness by about 50 per cent from a conventional CIPP liner. As with other pipe rehabilitation products, the applied pipe loads are calculated according to accepted industry standards, such as AS/NZS2566.

iplus Composite has a polypropylene coating on the inside pipe surface. This elastomeric flow surface coating increases the pipe’s smoothness, reduces the surface friction and provides an additional corrosion barrier for the pipe.

The system was specifically developed for medium-large diameter gravity pipe applications or high load situations where it provides significant benefits over conventional lining systems. These benefits include:

* A seamless, jointless, structural “pipe-within-a-pipe”; * A tight fit liner eliminating infiltration; * A wider range of applications where a fully structural liner is required but not previously possible including large diameter pipes, non-circular pipes, and very deep pipes; * Maximum possible finished internal diameter due to reduced wall thickness and tight fit; * Smoothness of internal surface, combined with maximum possible finished internal diameter generally results in a flow increase after lining; * No human entry required for installation making it extremely safe; * No grouting required making it extremely fast to install; * The ability to easily negotiate bends; and, * The reduction in wall thickness results in reduced resin usage making the system extremely cost effective and reduces curing liner curing time.

When the iplus Composite system is combined with Insituform’s world leading air inversion/steam curing (AISC) technology, the package becomes an extremely powerful tool for asset owners. Rehabilitating a 1,800mm diameter pipeline in a single day is now a reality and Insituform has been doing it since 2003.

A growing application for iplus Composite has been in the rehabilitation of deteriorated large diameter stormwater culverts under major roads, highways, and railway crossings. Where human entry slip-lining methods may have been the only option in the past, iplus Composite provides a superior structural alternative that is fast and safe to install, while maintaining maximum pipe capacity.

The use of AISC technology has not been confined to iplus Composite installations. It is now Insituform’s preferred and most common installation process regardless of CIPP product or size. The current range of AISC equipment covers pipe sizes from 100mm to 1,800 mm diameter and a number of Australian clients are now benefiting from this technology through the services of Australian entity Insituform Pacific P/L.

The introduction of AISC technology has a number of significant benefits – it provides extremely fast liner inversion and curing, and is therefore highly cost effective; it has environmental benefits as a result of lower water and energy consumption, and community benefits due to the short amount of time spent on site.

The use of steam for curing CIPP liners has required the development of stronger lining materials and coatings with higher heat tolerances than previously used. Insituform is able to do this, being one of the few companies to develop, test, manufacture, and install its own lining products around the world.

Australia’s Insituform Pacific looks forward to continuing the proud tradition established in 1971 when Insituform gave birth to the pipeline rehabilitation industry.