Newmarket, Auckland – 400mm UV Liner project
The intersection of Great South Road and Broadway in Newmarket, Auckland is one of the busier in a very busy city. It’s chic. With a large Westfield mall on one side and high-end car dealerships on others, and a very steady traffic flow in between.
The pipework below, however, was not so glossy.
Step-up NZ Lining and Director – Operations Manager Ammar Ahmed, and his team to find ways to extend the life of the cracked and failing pipes for another 100 or so years. Additionally, there were bends – as pipes were laid to accommodate other services.
Traffic management was always a potential issue with its location so close to the motorway. Hold-ups, risks, and cost had to be factored in to how to do the job to achieve the best outcome. Work also had to be tackled at night and, quickly, with the least disruption possible.
Ammar says the 450-diameter line also had a couple of significant bends, a challenge for conventional liners. He looked at the options and decided on a UV Liner from BurrowTech produced by Brandenburger Liner from Germany. A felt liner would have been another option but the decision was in favor of a UV cured fiberglass epoxy from cured CIPP within the host pipe.
“The UV Liner was more flexible, and we didn’t want any creases or wrinkles. We agreed on the BB 2.5 Flex 400 diameter as it could expand.
“It was perfect! And so much quicker it was the optimal solution.”
“The UV liner expanded to the additional space and it easily managed the bends.”
The project took around 3-4 hours, with pneumatic robotic cutters used the following day for reopening laterals connecting into the mainline pipe.
Hayden Powell from BurrowTech says the UV Liners offer major benefits. The high strength liner is fully structural – meaning it has created a new pipe within the existing and is designed to last a minimum of a further 50 years. The liner is cured using UV light curing technology and has proven to be the safest, fastest and most cost-effective rehabilitation option.
Since the early 1990s Brandenburger Liner, a member of the Brandenburger group, has been working with UV curing technology and glass fibres as reinforcement and carrier material. Both the UV curing technology and the quality of the materials used have been continuously developed in-house. The Brandenburger Liner can be engineered to cope with site specific requirements such as traffic or rail loading providing a versatile product that can be adapted to individual pipe requirements.
Hayden says the pipe liner products are made from carrier materials whose chemical and mechanical properties meet the highest standards, this provides clients and asset owners with an economic solution to renewing aged infrastructure.
“The major advantages are that there’s no excavation above ground, so hardly any disruption for business or residents. And you’ve got immediate commissioning after completion which speeds things up a heap and saves money.”