City of Shawano, WI Replaces Lead Service Lines Using Kobus Pipe Puller

Kobus Inc. was featured on the news together with their customer and friend Van Rite Plumbing. They were awarded a contract for 250 lead water replacements in Shawano, WI. 50 replacements have been done thus far.

Watch the news video here!

Kobus Inc’s headquarters are based in Michigan. Their aim is to provide innovative trenchless techniques for Water, Gas and other service pipe replacement. Initially the company was set up to develop the concept of a Pipe Puller from an idea into a practical, working product.  As a result, their engineers created the Kobus Pipe Puller. They now supply Pipe Pullers in North America directly from their facility in Michigan. Additionally, they train your crews to safely and effectively get the best from the equipment.

Visit Kobus at the NASTT 2021 No-Dig Show in booth 522 in Orlando, March 28-31!

Michels to Receive Two Project of the Year Awards at 2021 No-Dig Show

Michels Corporation will be heavily involved in the 2021 NASTT No-Dig in-person show in Orlando, FL, March 29-31, 2021.

In addition to exhibiting in one of the larger booth spaces on the floor (Booth 1001), Michels will give two presentations during the conference: Creating Efficiency for Project Success: Zach Osborn; and Using UV-cured CIPP to reline 8.5 miles of sanitary sewer in Guam: Lee Zubrod and John Manijak.

During the show, Michels will also receive two Project of the Year awards. The Project of the Year for New Installation is given to Michels Bakken Missouri River Crossing, which featured a record-setting 2.5-mile horizontal directional drill. The Project of the Year for Rehabilitation is awarded to Michels Northern Interceptor Rehabilitation Sewer, which utilized ultraviolet light (UV) cured-in-place (CIPP) pipe liners for pipe rehabilitation of 43,984 linear feet of sanitary sewer pipes, making it among the largest UV projects in the United States. Winning both awards in one year is a great honor and a first-time occurrence for the company, their crews and their leadership teams. Find more information and videos on these projects at Michels blog: 2 projects named best in trenchless | Michels.

As the premier trenchless service provider in the industry, Michels offers fully customizable solutions. Utilizing a tool case of trenchless options, they listen to you, and work in conjunction to propose the best feasible option for your project. They offer complete rehab and new build solutions. No other contractor can deliver many trenchless answers under one roof. Visit Michels March 29-31, 2021 in Booth 1001 or www.michels.us/trenchless to find out more.

Rutgers Students Learn Virtually from Northeast Remsco Zoom Presentation

On Thursday, November 12 the NASTT Student Chapter at Rutgers University participated in a trenchless presentation discussing various projects in the Northeastern United States.

A Zoom session was hosted by Dennis Walsh – Senior Project Manager – Horizontal Directional Drilling of PSE&G and the presenter was Rich Palmer of Northeast Remsco. Scott Murray – Project Executive at Northeast Remsco arranged for Rich to present and worked with Rutgers Professor Nenad Gucunski and Student Chapter President, Ian Walczak to make it happen.

12 attendees logged on to this evening session which included project info, lots of photos and a lively Q and A session.

Many thanks to all the volunteers that made this happen and are helping our Student Chapters stay involved during the quarantine where group learning settings can be difficult to navigate.

Kelley Digger Shield Takes the Express Route to Atlanta

Fully Engineered, manufactured and on Site in 6 weeks!

On July 1st, 2020, The Atkinson / Technique Joint Venture entered into a contract with Kelley Engineered Equipment (KEE) for the supply of a 90.25” (2.3 m) digger shield. On August 15th, just Six weeks later, the machine was on site and ready to work. Averaging about 5.3’ (1.6 m) per day, the distance needed to install 4 rings of liner plate, the shield finished its drive on October 6th, 2020.
The task at hand was tunneling 356’ (109 m) of varying stiff clays, saprolite and mylonite for the City of Atlanta’s Water Supply Project Phase II. This undertaking connects a new 3.4-billion-gallon (12.9 million m³) emergency drinking water reservoir to a new treatment plant. However, the shield’s most important job was to provide the required Cooper E-80 Loading support under 154” (47 m) of the CSX railroad passing intermittently overhead with cover as low as 15’ (4.6 m).

In addition to thrust and steering systems, the unit was designed with special features to expedite assembly and disassembly in the heading. After the collapsed shield was lowered down a 30’ (9.1 m) diameter shaft, it was transported through an existing pre-lined tunnel and assembled at the mining site. The shield was assembled within these liner panels and thrust off smaller ID panels that were erected within the safety of the shield.

Fabrication, workshop assembly and factory acceptance testing were performed at KEE’s longtime partner, Wolf Hills Fabricators, LLC in Abingdon, VA. Wolf Hills supplied exceptional quality and were instrumental in achieving the very quick delivery.

Atkinson Construction’s Konner Horton was quoted as thanking KEE for “a machine that worked great and getting it done for us so quickly”.

Image 1: KEE digger shield fully assembled in the Wolf Hills facility and awaiting its trip to Atlanta.
Image 2: The 90.25” (2.3 m)) Kelley Shield in transport mode as it travels through the existing tunnel.
Image 3: The shield was lowered down a 30’ (9.1 m) diameter shaft before riding the rails to the excavation area under the CSX Railway.

Robbins Single Shield Breaks Through Turkey’s Hardest Rock

Resilient TBM completes Bahçe-Nurdaği Railway

On July 24, 2020, a jubilant ceremony marked a milestone for southern Turkey’s arduous Bahçe-Nurdaği High-Speed Railway Tunnel.  The first TBM-driven portion of tunneling using an 8.0 m (26.2 ft) diameter Robbins Single Shield machine is now complete. The 8.9 km (5.5 mi) long TBM tunnel was no easy bore, as it was excavated through some of the hardest and most abrasive rock ever encountered in the country.

“We are proud of the TBM crew who acted rapidly and were well organized to overcome the challenging ground conditions with a unique Single Shield TBM for the completion of the first tube of the Bahçe-Nurdağı Railway Project,” said Deniz Sahin, TBM Chief for contractor Intekar Yapi A.Ş.

Ground conditions during tunneling ranged from abrasive, interbedded sandstone and mudstone with quartzite veins to highly weathered shale and dolomitic limestone.  The TBM encountered rock measuring between 136 and 327 MPa (19,700 to 47,400 psi) UCS. Water ingress with fines was expected in fault lines and shear zones affected by the East Anatolian Fault. “The TBM became stuck in three different fault zones, which we got through by building bypass tunnels. In smaller fault zones, we encountered excessive material flow and the TBM had to be stopped, while ground had to be stabilized with chemical injections while we cleaned the cutterhead,” said Sahin. Water inflows of 10 liters per second on average were removed using a dewatering system.

The majority of tunneling, said Sahin, was in metasandstone with quartz, with an average of 220 MPa (31,900 psi) UCS and a Cerchar abrasion value of 3.87. In such regions, the TBM’s 19-inch back-loading disc cutters had to be changed frequently and there was high vibration. Despite the challenges, Sahin was impressed by the machine’s overall capacity: “The Robbins Single Shield TBM’s motor power, hydraulic power and cutterhead torque were quite strong. The secondary ventilation and air suction systems inside the TBM were powerful. The connections between the gantries, scaffolding systems, walkways and working areas were good.”

The TBM ultimately achieved up to 456 m (1,500 ft) per month, a result achieved with the help of a Robbins continuous conveyor system for muck removal. “The electric motor and gearbox capacity of the conveyor system was quite enough for a 10 km (6.2 mi) tunnel and we had no failure on them. The conveyor performed well even under excess material and the whole system was quite robust,” said Sahin.

The owner, Turkish State Railways Directorate (TCDD), is aiming to overhaul the railway connection in southeastern Turkey by providing a shorter, faster route in one of the country’s busiest railway corridors. The new rail line between the towns of Bahçe and Nurdağı includes two parallel 9.8 km (6.1 mi) tunnels being excavated by both NATM (850 m / 0.5 mi) and TBM (8.9 km / 5.5 mi).

Image 1: Contractor Intekar Yapi A.Ş celebrated the breakthrough of the Robbins Single Shield TBM on July 24, 2020 in southeastern Turkey.
Image 2: The Robbins TBM bored an 8.9 km (5.5 mi) long tunnel through some of the hardest rock in Turkey, measuring up to 327 MPa (47,400 psi) UCS.
Image 3: The new rail line between the towns of Bahçe and Nurdağı includes two parallel 9.8 km (6.1 mi) tunnels being excavated by both NATM (850 m / 0.5 mi) and TBM (8.9 km / 5.5 mi).
Image 4: The Robbins TBM excavated interbedded sandstone and mudstone with quartzite veins, highly weathered shale, and dolomitic limestone using back-loading 19-inch disc cutters.

Pipe Bursting vs. Open Cut Excavation Comparison When Replacing Water Main (Video)

Thank you to Murphy Pipelines for this guest post. Check out the video!

Watch the video of a typical day of pre-chlorinated pipe bursting

View what a ‘typical’ day of pre-chlorinated pipe bursting looks like when replacing water main in a residential neighborhood. This pipe burst entails replacing 650 feet of 10-inch cast iron water main with new 10-inch HDPE pipe.

It’s generally stated that static pipe bursting uses 85% less excavation than open cut when replacing water main. But what are the real numbers on an actual project?

Static pipe bursting uses 11 times less excavation:

Looking at the math of how we get to 11 times less excavation using static pipe bursting to replace water main.

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