Description
KOBUS Services were asked by Hydrosave to demonstrate the KOBUS Pipe Puller on a site in Ipswich. The property chosen was a commercial food manufacturing plant on a private site.
The pipe to be replaced was selected as a leak had been identified towards the end of the 17m pipe. This pipe provided a major part of the water supply to this site and thus removing water wastage and cost by completely eliminating the leak and reducing the potential for new leaks was a major factor in deciding to replace the entire pipe. The pipe lay at a depth of between 0.6m and 1.5m in depth and passed beneath a row of mature coniferous trees. The pipe continued under a concrete foot path and under the entrance staircase to the main factory building.
Electricity services and BT cables were also present, crossing the water mains at various points underground. This posed to high a risk of potential cable strikes if moling was used.
Due to the existing underground services and arrangement of the external buildings, there were no alternative routes for the pipe apart from in its existing place under the conifers and the property entrance.
Owing to the nature of the site, works had to be completed in under 3 hours to ensure the factory had enough water to maintain full production.
Outcomes
Site preparation was carried out 1 hour prior to disconnecting the water supply. Works carried out after cutting the supply took 25 minutes, with the pull taking 8.5 minutes.
The supply was reconnected 10 minutes after reinstallation of the pipe. The total time without water was 47 minutes with total job time (excluding reinstatement) at 1 hour 45 minutes.
There were no health & safety issues in respect of service strikes (HSG47) or operator activity.