Sewer Rehabilitation Using Green Technology
The globally unique technology wins the Greenovation Grand Prize
Innotéka Magazin - Vol. 5, June 2015
This year Agriapipe Kft. has been competing in the construction category with a globally unique technology - the „SPR” spiral wound pipe lining procedure – and has won the Greenovation Grand Prize.
„Our company is engaged in a special territory within the utilities sector: we are using trenchless rehabilitation technologies called no-dig repair in the rehabilitation terminology – said Zoltán Varga, General Manager of the Agriapipe Kft. – The main point is that we are able to rehabilitate public utilities (gas, water, sewage water) in a way that no or a very limited number of open trenches are needed.”
Experts working for our company have several decades of experience in the field. We often say that every day medical doctors would cure patients while every day we are trying to find a remedy for deteriorated pipelines.
Photo 1. Sewer rehabilitation with ’SPR’ spiral wound technology
The gradual aging of underground public utilities and infrastructure is one of today’s main problems. Rehabilitation of sewers of large diameter and of special shapes having been built underground in big cities is a major technological challenge. This is even more true if the utility is built deeply underground in a crowded area in the inner city where there is no possibility to dig trenches for the construction. One of our main projects in 2014 was the trenchless rehabilitation of a 665 m long large diameter (DN 210/140 cm)main sewer under Pozsonyi street in Budapest which had been built in 1907. Out of our „green” technology portfolio we decided to use - being among the very first users in Europe – the so-called „SPR” technology of world-class quality developed in Japan. The main advantage of the process is that it is 100% „no-dig” and we only used already existing manholes during the works. Due to this there was a very limited noise, dust and air pollution impact on the environment in the area.
Photo 2. Rehabilitation may go up to DN 5.5 in case of different shapes
The whole work was finished in four months while a construction using open trenches would have lasted half a year at least. During the rehabilitation the „Pozsonyi Picnic” could have been organized with several thousand participants. While people were dancing in the street we were working underground and we also had to operate the main sewer. The work area was also in the way of the Spar Budapest Marathon but due to the technology the event was undisturbed. Restaurants, shops and businesses in the Pozsonyi street could also operate according to their regular schedules. The works did not cause any problem to people living and working in the street and there was no traffic stoppage either.
Using „green” technology is also important regarding sustainable development. The lining method we are using allow the coordination of social, economic and environmental interests. (People-Planet-Profit model)
„This year for all the work we had performed the board awarded the „Greenovation Grand Prize” in the construction industry to our company which is an outstanding recognition – said Zoltán Varga. The feedback from the market and the profession is very important as this is how we get to know if we are on the good track.”
Certainly, trenchless construction technologies also evolve at a rapid pace. These changes are being tracked and we also work on our own developments. We would like to offer our customers the most recent, the most economical and the most eco-friendly technologies. As an example I could mention the new lining technology that we have recently used - in cooperation with the CanalCom Kft – for the first time in Hungary. The main point of the procedure is that when rehabilitating the sewer we insert a double liner of a special shape providing enough space for telecommunication wires besides static reinforcement. Using this method the utility pipe will be rehabilitated and the cables can easily and quickly be pulled into the sewer without digging trenches.
„I do hope that in the near future there is going to be a growing demand for „green” technologies” – confirmed Zoltán Varga General Manager of Agriapipe Kft.
You can find the original text here: innoteka.hu
You can read the online version of the June issue of Innotéka Magazine here: innoteka.hu/online/junius