New South Wales university receives network upgrade using SAERTEX-LINER® MULTI Type S+

The NSW public research university is invested in the future of the campus which includes its utilities that run for several kilometres under the campus through a huge DN service corridor.

“The service corridor is vast,” said APM managing director James Pickup.

“It carries power, high-pressure water, gas and communication cables throughout the university campus.”

With sections of the drainage infrastructure dating back to the 1970’s, APM won the tender to tackle the upgrade to three separate parallel concrete wastewater pipelines which included a 75 metre DN 750 pipeline, four sections of DN 300 pipe making up 150 metres, and 60 metres of DN 280 pipe.

The condition of all three pipelines were in various stages of deterioration and the client had particular concerns about the derelict DN 300 pipe failing and flooding the service corridor completely.

With open-cut construction not an option, the client was looking for a solution that would restore structural integrity to the pipes, provide minimal disruption to students and be resistant to corrosion for years to come.

To tackle the upgrade, APM turned to SAERTEX-LINER^® MULTI, available through Pipe Core, a sustainable GRP liner solution for municipal and industrial sewers that has just reached 100,000 installations worldwide.

“SAERTEX-LINER^® MULTI S+ was a great solution for our team on this job as we were familiar with the product and knew that SAERTEX multiCom would work with Pipe Core and us to accommodate the custom DN 280 liner order”, said Pickup.

Site preparation began in mid-2022, with a huge amount of pre-cleaning, all conducted out of university hours so as not to disrupt students.

The team of five worked night shift from 5pm to 5am across five nights to clean the DN 300 pipe.

“The DN 300 pipe was littered with roots, concrete debris, and failings so we had a huge amount of prep work and clearing to do ahead of the reline,” said Pickup.

“Cleaning began on the sections of the pipeline that were in the worst condition.

“We began by removing debris, clearing the roots intruding into the connections, addressing the root cut pipelines with a robotic cutter and making sectional repairs with fibreglass.

“Our specialised Kroll vacuum jetting recycler unit was an asset to us on this project.”

Pickup outlined that the team made some good headway over the week but had scheduled another return to site for more cleaning ahead of the February 2023 install, to ensure the host pipes were completely clean and ready to receive the liners.

“Access and set-up were definitely our biggest challenges on this job”, he said.

The team were faced with important preparation measures including establishing safe access points with safety barriers, mechanical aids to allow us to efficiently haul the liner 150 metres beyond the access point to the service corridor, as well as the right equipment that could be lowered into the access tunnel.

“We remained hyper focussed on safety throughout this job, to avoid students tripping into the access tunnel that had to remain open for the duration of the job. Fortunately, we had an experienced team, who were all prepared for the manual handling involved on this job and were quick to take all the necessary safety precautions,” said Pickup.

Installation got underway in February 2023 as scheduled, and the same team of five worked through the night over six evenings to complete the relines.

“Curing with UV technology is fast and effective, once all the preparation measures had been taken, we were able to move through with our UV light source at approximately 1.4metres per minute, making for a very efficient reline,” said Pickup.

By the end of the week the lined pipes were cured, inspected, and returned to service.

“We were very pleased with how the project ran, given the challenging access and set up issues and we were appreciative of SAERTEX multiCom and Pipe Core’s support and collaborative approach on this job.”

By selecting SAERTEX-LINER^® MULTI, which utilises a more climate-friendly manufacturing process for its resin systems, APM could report a saving of 668 kg CO₂ emissions for this project.

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