Home| Rothenberger | Pipe Freezing | Camera Inspection
Black Fibre/Pitch Pipe.
|
Fibre/Pitch Sewerage pipe.
Some remnants of fibre pitch pipes - the drains did'nt work too well! Fibre/pitch pipe is know by a number of different names - SANTAR, fibre/tar etc. I prefer calling it fibre/pitch pipe because it describes it reasonably well. I am not an expert on the construction or composition of this pipe and only have anecdotal information on when and where it came from. It would appear that it was (incorrectly) used as sewer pipes for a couple of years about 20-30 years ago. I have a lot of experience in repairing systems that use this pipe however. Fortunately it was discontinued, as sewer pipe, many years ago. It is black and fibrous when broken. The surfaces are fairly smooth and often shiny - gloss black. This pipe is not suitable for use in sewer systems that are expected to last 50-100 years and beyond. Why is this pipe a problem? Well, simply put, it tends to "recycle" itself after about 20 years :-). From what I can see the volatiles in the pitch appear to dry out and with abrasion inside the pipe, it becomes porous. Then water penetrates the layers of fibres - like chipboard getting wet. This causes the pipe to swell significantly and the pipe also starts losing it's structural strength. At this point it starts falling apart. Roots take advantage of the weakening pipe and the whole sewer line is compromised. Often the damage is to the under side of the pipe which suggests that the water is causing the damage from within? When you first expose the pipe the top looks fine. Only once you start digging around it do you find that the bottom is missing! Unfortunately, this stuff was used extensively in and around Benoni. Entire suburbs (like Crystal Park) are very badly effected as are numerous townhouse complexes. Large areas of Farrarmere, Alphen Park and many newer suberbs in Edenvale and Kempton Park also have this problem. In fact we have noted that it extends as far as Germiston and Alberton! Townhouse complexes - a ticking timebomb! The sewer system in a complex cannot be replaced in a day or two. It can take weeks to dig up and replace all the pipes. It's important that Townhouse complexes are aware of the status of their sewer system. If these pipes have been used then you need to get the sewerage system surveyed with a camera. You need to know where you are. The danger is that you simply get plumbers to clean every time the system blocks. You will eventually get to a point where they cannot clean any more and the sewer system will be dead until it is repaired a number of days later. This will render the complex uninhabitable. Imagine the cost of 20 families at the local 3 Star hotel for 10 days? This is why BLOCKBUSTER suggests a survey followed by a planned replacement or re-lining program. What to do? The truth is that the pipe must be replaced - ALL of it eventually. I have noticed that some lines are in better condition than others even though they were built at around the same time. There are a number of reasons for this. One of the most important being the cleaning frequency. We recommend a planned and structured approach to the replacement of these pipes. It's generally not possible to do it all in one smack. You need to attend to the critical areas first and then replace the less damaged sections. In many cases we can use trenchless (pipe bursting ) method to replace this kind of pipe. This saves on time and money and we can go under buildings if we have to! We can also reline this pipe with fibre/resin Have a look at some of our RECENT PROJECTS for information on how we repair these systems.
HDPE pipe and pig about to enter the old line.
FOR A QUICK AND COST EFFECTIVE SOLUTION TO YOUR FIBRE PITCH PIPE PROBLEMS CONTACT LEE ON 083 458 4836 and look at Pipe Bursting here. Recent BBDC Projects to be found at Recent projects. Cleaning Frequency. This pipe cannot be cleaned too often. Not with any cleaning method - even spiral coils and particularly not with solid rods! The most common problem is that a root gets into the compromised pipe and grows. Then you try to cut the root with the drain machine. The pipe is already weakened in this area and the drain machine breaks through the weakened pipe. A sure sign of this is when you bring the cutter back and note that it's full of mud! In this case the drain has to be dug up and repaired. Problem lines. There are some areas that are very difficult to repair - especially those that go under buildings! Municipal regulations allow sewerage pipes to go under buildings BUT specify that the pipe must be encased in concrete. Note the use of the word "encased". This is not the same as "covered". I have seen many cases where the pipe has only been covered in concrete. This helps to make the situation a bit worse. The bottom of the pipe disintegrates and the cement cover does not help at all when it too collapses downwards. I would always avoid running a sewerage pipe under or in a building if there was any way to avoid it. In most cases the sewer line has to be rerouted. Where you cant reroute we can use trenchless (pipe bursting ) technology to pull the new pipe through. Sometimes you cannot do this because the line is so badly collapsed. Contact me if you need more info on this or if you have any additional info on this type of pipe.
BLOCKBUSTER DRAIN CLEANING - THE DRAIN BRAINS!
|
