What Is Pipe Bursting?
Pipe bursting is simply a method of using a bursting head to pull in new pipe using the same path as the pipe that is being replaced. This greatly reduces the cost of the project when compared to an open-cut method, as the rehabilitation costs are dramatically reduced. The contractor does not need to shut down road ways, divert traffic or replace homeowner lawns, flower beds, fences and driveways. Typically, the new pipe follows the same line and grade of the old pipe.
Types Of Pipe Bursting
Pneumatic
This type of pipe bursting uses a winch, air compressor, and a pneumatic bursting head. The air compressor supplys air to the bursting head and creates a hammering action that cracks and breaks up the host (pipe being replaced) pipe. The winch feeds line through the host pipe back to the bursting head, and keeps constant tension on the line. This keeps the bursting head in the host pipe and assists in moving the bursting head through the line. The pneumatic method is primarly used on fracturable pipes formed from material such as concrete and clay.
Image from Guidelines For Pipe Bursting TTC Technical Report #2001.02
Static
Ease of operation, maintenance, and versatility in the pipe that can be burst have led to an increase in popularity for the static method. In addition to what pnuematic bursting sytems will burst, static systems will also cut / burst ductile iron, steel, cast iron and other types of metal pipe. Systems that use the static method typically use an engine and hydraulic unit used to supply power to a pull / push box. Rods are then pushed through the host pipe to the point where the burst will begin, connected to the bursting head, and then pulled using force back through the host pipe. The pulling force allows the bursting head to crush the existing pipe while pulling in the new pipe behind the head.
Image from Guidelines For Pipe Bursting TTC Technical Report #2001.02
Many people in the United States look at pipe bursting as the new fad in trenchless solutions. However, it has been used as a pipe replacement method since the 1970's! Most research points to British Gas and an England-based contractor, DJ Ryan and Sons, as being at the forefront of pipe bursting. These two companies were faced with replacing thousands of miles of cast iron gas lines throughout England. Faced with digging these lines up and the enourmous costs involved in replacing roads, yards, landscapes, and fencing, they began to search for a "trenchless" method. Their solution was to use a piercing tool to create a hammering action, and a cable and winch system to pull at a constant tension on the piercing tool, allowing the tool to break the orginal pipe while dragging in the new pipe at the same time. Thus, pipe bursting was born! British Gas then pantented the method and began to charge those who used this method a fee on a per foot basis. This patent expired in April 2005 and the pipe bursting market has been growing by leaps and bounds ever since!
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