Strengths of Ultraliner
Decades of successive improvements in pipeliner technology have brought the trenchless pipe rehabilitation industry to a higher level of performance. Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner is the next evolutionary advancement in trenchless rehabilitation and is truly "the perfect fit" for your project requirements.
Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner provides the end-user with a product manufactured from PVC, the material known and trusted in the water and sewer industry for more than a half a century, which has been specifically engineered and enhanced for use as a trenchless rehabilitation pipeliner.
Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner is a cost-effective , tight-fitting, completely trenchless, and for many applications the preferable method for rehabilitating the world's underground infrastructure. And Hydroliner LLC, with our on-going research and development, is poised to deliver even greater advancements to meet your pipe rehabilitation needs in the future.
Strengths of the Products:
Material of Preference | 50 Yr Design | Conservative Design | Chemical & Abrasion Resistance | Cost-Competitive | Installation | Expandability | Reduced Risk | Safety | Dimensional Stability | Tight Fit | Infiltration Reduction | Extreme Weather Install | Rehab Deteriorated Pipes | Limited Accessibility | Building Ducts | Decreased Disruption | Reduce Maintenance Costs | Environmentally Friendly
Ultraliner's uniquely engineered PVC Alloy material and the advantages of stringent Quality Control at the manufacturing site provide a product free of the installation problems that affect product quality often experienced with other lining products. No other product installs as easily or as predictably. You can be confident that you will receive the product you specified and contracted to have installed.
Strengths of the Company:
Strong Service and Support | Local Field Service Support | Industry Leadership | PVC Expertise | | Commitment to Excellence.
Material of Preference
PVC is the material of preference in the water and sewer industry because of its ease of constructability, simplicity of maintenance, and unrivaled durability. However, typical PVC compounds are not conducive to the process of insertion and field forming of a PVC pipeliner. For trenchless applications, a tougher, more ductile PVC compound is required to consistently meet the field performance requirements so as to avoid cracking and splitting of the pipeliner during the installation process. Working with our company, the chemical engineers at Dupont and Vista Chemical augmented a new class of PVC compound for use in trenchless pipe rehabilitation applications which we refer to as a PVC Alloy.
Our unique PVC Alloy material is composed of PVC homopolymer integrally blended (forming a homogenous mixture consisting of a single phase) with special modifiers. The PVC Alloy has been specifically engineered to be an extremely tough and ductile compound exceptionally suited to trenchless applications. Among the unique characteristics of Ultraliner's proprietary PVC Alloy are:
- extremely high impact strengths,
- a wide forming temperature range,
- a high degree of dimensional stability,
- and the essential ability to relieve high levels of stress without structurally compromising the material.
These unique characteristics of the PVC Alloy are coupled with PVC's innate exceptional abrasion resistance and chemical resistance, resulting in an ideal pipeliner material. Both Higher-Compliance and Higher-Stiffness formulations of Ultraliner's PVC Alloy are available for specific applications.
With Ultraliner's exceptional field performance history and unrivaled customer satisfaction , it is easily understood why Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner has become the material of preference for pipe rehabilitation in agencies across North America.
50 Year Design Life
PVC is known for its durability in water and sewer applications, and Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner is no exception. The innate flexibility of PVC provides much greater strength in a buried installation than mere material properties would suggest. Contrary to popular misconception, with a buried pipe, stiffness does not directly correlate with strength and durability [rather, stiffness is primarily used to avoid unnecessary deflection of a flexible pipe caused by the direct burial process]. Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliners have been engineered to provide long-term structural stability in trenchless pipe rehabilitation applications. With appropriately conservative design, Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliners are expected to far exceed a 50 year design life.
Conservative Design Ensures Long-Term Structural Stability
Because of their exceptional flexibility, buried PVC pipes and PVC pipeliners quickly reach equilibrium with the surrounding soil, thereby avoiding unnecessary, stress-inducing soil loads. However, even taking into consideration the full overburden, live, and hydrostatic loads, stresses under typical applications are not sufficient to cause measurable apparent long-term modulus reduction (creep) of a supported, flexible PVC pipeliner that has sufficient wall thickness to ensure short-term ring stability. Attempts have been made to determine the long-term moduli of pipeliner materials using accelerated testing; however, such acceleration has typically been accomplished by increasing the applied pressure in order to generate failure within 10,000 hours.
In the case of the PVC pipeliners (tested within perfect host pipes), the pressures required to generate failure within the 10,000 hours were sufficiently high to significantly alter the material response and are, therefore, not indicative of material behavior at typical field pressures. As a result, the encased buckling tests of PVC pipeliners conducted at the Louisiana Tech University Trenchless Technology Center [TTC] required pressures exceeding 110 psi (758 kPa) to generate measurable "creep reduction." PVC test samples subjected to under 100 psi (690 kPa) did not fail within the 10,000 hour test period. Despite the reported apparent creep reduction (at pressures high enough to alter the material behavior and thereby generate failure within the allotted time), the data collected is indicative of negligible material creep at typical field application external pressures of 20 psi (138 kPa) and lower.
While imperfections in the pipeliner and the host pipe will generate points of stress concentration which will generate higher creep than has been measured in the perfect pipes, localized imperfections can be expected to have a much smaller influence than imperfections down the entire length of a pipeliner (as is generated by current computer analysis methods and as results from tests of other pipeliner technologies which have full length seams). Remove such variables and the influence of long-term material creep appears to be essentially overwhelmed by short-term ring stability issues. Without adequate wall thickness, a pipeliner subjected to sufficient hydrostatic pressure will suffer a "snap-through" (a short-term response) buckling failure of the pipeliner (encased samples which make a characteristic loud pop as they reach failure), wherein ring instability causes the pipeliner to rapidly reverse curvature and collapse inward, or else the pipeliner will rupture due to excessive short-term stresses (encased samples which begin leaking or which shatter).
Thus, despite the stability in regards to apparent creep reduction at typical field service pressures, an appropriate modulus reduction factor is incorporated into the design to ensure adequate thickness to provide short-term ring stability. [Note: The original buckling equations, which were later modified by the industry, appropriately used the short-term modulus in the design. The industry incorporated the long-term modulus into the design in order to ensure the required conservatism regarding the ring stability of a more flexible material which has sidewall support.] Because long-term material creep is typically not the controlling failure mechanism, the modulus reduction required to ensure structural stability can be expected to have very little correlation with the "expected" long-term creep modulus of the material as measured through traditional means such as ASTM D 2990.
Thus, despite the negligible influence of long-term material creep upon the stability of properly designed PVC pipeliners, Ultraliner suggests following the standard industry practice of using a 25% modulus reduction (75% retention) for its higher-compliance PVC Alloy pipeliner [complying with ASTM F 1871], and a 65% modulus reduction (35% retention) for its higher-stiffness PVC Alloy pipeliner [complying with ASTM F 1504], in order to ensure sufficient wall thickness to provide the necessary short-term ring stability. [Note: The design of a lower-modulus material will automatically require a thicker wall, thereby resulting in the necessary ring stability without the use of as high of a modulus reduction.]
In other words, providing a conservative design to ensure long-term structural stability of a PVC pipeliner is principally an issue of short-term ring stability, rather than an issue of long-term material creep. The actual influence of long-term creep may be negligible upon a properly designed PVC pipeliner.
[Note: A truly conservative design requires a balanced design which considers all possible failure mechanisms and which is conservatively weighted towards the most uncontrollable variables. With trenchless rehabilitation, as also with direct burial design, the construction crews are the most uncontrollable variable; constructability must always be considered by a responsible design engineer. With direct burial flexible pipe, a higher stiffness than is optimal from a structural design perspective (typically a pipe stiffness of 46 for flexible pipes) is selected to ensure ease of constructability, even though lower stiffness pipes have been proven to withstand greater loads when properly installed. In contrast to direct burial design, with trenchless rehabilitation pipeliners, a thinner, lower stiffness pipeliner promotes ease of constructability. The use of a stiffer, thicker pipeliner than structurally required, rather than promoting conservatism (as it would in a direct burial application), unnecessarily increases the risk of a trenchless rehabilitation project failure.]
Exceptional Chemical Resistance and Abrasion Resistance
While there is great focus upon the buckling stability of pipeliners due to prominent vendor and academic research in the area, there are other areas equally important to the durability of pipeliners. Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner exhbits exceptional chemical resistance properties which are very similiar to PVC and does not degrade in typical sewage environments. Lining with Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner can eliminate many of the maintenance problems associated with pipe scaling and corrosion.
PVC pipeliners are homogenous, solid wall pipes and, therefore, have equivalent chemical resistance down their entire length, including at the service cuts. Because PVC pipeliners are not dependent upon field conditions for their final material properties, laboratory prepared test samples of PVC pipeliners will be representative of the chemical resistance of actual field installations.
Additionally, PVC pipeliners have exceptional abrasion resistance, which makes Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner ideal for abrasive flows in sanitary sewer, storm sewer, and industrial applications.
Earthquake Resistance
"Dogbone" for Tensile Testing
While no product is earthquake proof, the exceptional toughness and ductility of Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner, as exhibited by its extraordinary tensile elongation and extremely high impact resistance, make it an ideal material for use in earthquake prone regions.
High Impact Resistance
With an Izod Impact resistance of approximately 15 ft-lbs/in, Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner is an extremely "tough" material. Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner was engineered for toughness in order to handle the stresses inherent to a trenchless installation. For example, the remote reinstatement of service connections is equivalent to an insitu Izod Impact test. As the robotic cutter ports the pipe wall, a notch is formed which creates a point of stress concentration. As a result of extremely high Impact resistance, Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner is not as prone to cracking, splitting, and/or shattering during cool-down or during service connection reinstatement. Additionally, the exceptional toughness makes Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner ideal for use under extreme live loads.
Cost-Effective System Renewal and SSO Control
[Sanitary Sewer Overflow - picture courtesy of the EPA website]
Sanitary sewer overflows [SSOs] can be caused by maintenance problems such as blockages, by extraneous wet-weather flows such as infiltration and inflow, and also by insufficient capacity due to over-development. When seeking to reduce wet-weather induced SSOs, the first priority and the most cost-effective methodology is to eliminate inflow from illegal connections. Smoke testing will often inexpensively identify roof drain connections that can be a significant source of inflow. Our licensed installers can help you with solutions to most of your wet-weather needs, although much of the inflow reduction can be cost-effectively handled by your own maintenance personnel. However, elimination of inflow alone will not solve all of a system's problems. To significantly control SSOs, blockages and infiltration must also be addressed. Providing long-term, cost-effective solutions to such maintenance problems is our area of expertise.
Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner can be used to cost-effectively renew and extend the design life of existing buried structures, without disrupting or reducing the service life of surface structures such as pavement. The use of Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner can also lead to decreased long-term maintenance costs associated with root intrusion, pipe scaling, and soil subsidence. Additionally, individual SSOs can often be permanently eliminated with localized maintenance including the use of Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner to eliminate the recurrence of root intrusion and other sources of blockages. Furthermore, with sufficient rehabilitation of a collection system with Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner, significant volumes of infiltration can be eliminated from reaching the treatment facility, and local pipe capacity can be reclaimed.
Although in many cases pipe rehabilitation does not immediately solve infiltration-induced treatment plant capacity limitations, ultimately, pipe rehabilitation is almost always the most cost-effective means of eliminating sanitary sewer overflows [SSOs] and infiltration-induced untreated discharges. Spending money to increase system capacity to temporarily store excess wet-weather induced flows merely delays the inevitable expense of structurally renewing and sealing the pipes. Most leaking pipes gradually lose soil support, are typically subject to root intrusion, will likely be subject to recurrent blockages, and will eventually structurally fail. The rate at which the surrounding soil is carried away by the infiltration will often help to predict the remaining useful life of the host pipe. Host pipes that show evidence of ovality or other shape distortions are in need of near-term structural rehabilitation. Almost all leaking pipes should be monitored and scheduled for future rehabilitation.
The sooner the design life of a pipe is "renewed" through the use of pipe rehabilitation, the lower the cost of rehabilitation. A pipe under structural distress (as often evidenced by ovality or other shape distortions) requires a more expensive pipeliner than a leaking pipe which is merely progressing toward structural distress. A collapsed pipe generally requires a more disruptive and more expensive repair. Planned structural renewal through pipe rehabilitation will gradually resolve infiltration-induced problems as well as cost-effectively extend (renew) the useful life of the system.
The real goal should not be temporary elimination of SSOs and untreated discharges , but rather permanent elimination through a planned maintenance and renewal program which ensures long-term system sustainability. At a bare minimum, a good rule of thumb is that agencies should budget to structurally renew or replace 3.3% of their pipes annually for the next 20 years, in order to move towards a 100 year sustainable life-cycle for their system. Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner can be used to cost-effectively eliminate many localized SSOs, restore the long-term structural integrity of the system, while simultaneously helping to control the environmental impact of both infiltration and exfiltration. Any analysis of cost-effectiveness should consider long-term sustainability of the system.
Extremely Cost-Competitive
As with any trenchless pipe rehabilitation system, Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner provides significant savings over traditional dig and replace methodologies. The deeper the pipes and the more expensive the disruption to surface structures, the more you will directly save with the use of Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner when compared with digging and replacing the existing pipes. Additionally, indirect financial and "political" savings are generated by decreased community disruption, which should be considered in any cost analysis.
Ultraliner not only provides greater quality assurance, but Ultraliner is also extremely cost-competitive. In many communities, bid prices have reduced substantially upon inclusion of Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliners into the specifications. Such practical examples serve as a powerful testimony to the cost-competitiveness of Ultraliner's PVC Alloy pipeliners. [As an end-user, which would you rather pay for: higher quality materials and increased quality assurance or increased construction and labor costs???]
Low Inventory Costs
Pipeliner Inventory at the Manufacturing Facility
While Ultraliner does carry some inventory for use in emergency projects between production runs, most of our pipeliners are produced to order. This assists our licensed installers in avoiding waste and controlling costs by allowing them to order precisely the lengths they require. While lengths of Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner can be manufactured precisely to order, the diameter of the pipeliner needs only to be manufactured in accordance with the "nominal size." Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner's ability to effectively "blow-mold" against the host pipe enables tight conformance to the "actual size" of the host pipe, while ensuring compliance with the project thickness requirements (the pipeliner is extruded thicker to allow for expansion). Ultraliner's flexibility in manufacturing reduces material, production, and inventory costs.
Broader Size Range and Longer Lengths
Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner is available from 3" to 36"
Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner is available in sizes from 3" up to 36". Due to higher volumes of orders coming from our extensive network of licensed installers, Ultraliner manufactures a broader size range of pipeliners. By using wooden reels, Ultraliner is capable of providing 8" (200 mm) Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner in lengths exceeding 1000' (300 m) and 24" (600 mm) Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner in lengths exceeding 500' (150 m). Furthermore, Ultraliner can effectively market the larger diameter pipeliners due to our ability to manufacture and install much thicker pipeliners (with an installed thickness up to 0.55").
Simplicity of Shipping and Handling
Ultraliner's wooden reels provide many advantages [24" super reel shown].
Ultraliner's wooden reels greatly simplify the storage, shipping, and handling of extremely heavy reels of pipeliner. The reels protect the pipeliner from damage during shipping and simplify the process of loading and unloading the pipeliner. Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner is shipped ready to lift onto the reel trailer, so that the contractor can immediately go to work.
Unsurpassed Quality Control
Ultraliner Manufacturing Facility
Ultraliner's material supplier certifies the material strengths of every production lot of PVC Alloy compound shipped to the manufacturing facility. Additionally, in-house quality control testing is performed at our state-of-the-art 285,000 square foot manufacturing facility located near Birmingham, Alabama. Third party testing results are also on file. The design values (including the wall thickness, chemical resistance, and material strengths) of Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner are established primarily at the manufacturing facility under controlled, ASTM prescribed conditions. The innate advantage of being able to control the product design values at the manufacturing facility gives us a level of quality control which is unsurpassed in the industry.
Ease of Compliance Inspection
The material strengths of Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliners are installation independent. Environmental exposure (temperature, groundwater, etc.) during the installation process has a negligible influence upon the design properties (material modulus, wall thickness, chemical resistance, etc.) of Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliners. As a result, the design properties will be consistent throughout the full length of every line segment regardless of the field conditions and regardless of the experience level of the particular crew performing the installation. Thus, the actual properties of the installed Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner can be accurately confirmed with inexpensive and simple quality-control testing of each production lot of material shipped to the job site. You can rest assured that the tested strengths will consistently and accurately reflect the actual strengths of the full length of every line segment installed; with Ultraliner "what you specify is what you get!"
Fast and Simple Installation
Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner installs quickly and easily, resulting in minimal community disruption. Typically, pulling and installing Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner only requires four or five hours with negligible sewer service disruption to homeowners. Additionally, modest equipment requirements result in limited traffic disruption and minimal disturbance to private property. Furthermore, although Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner is generally manufactured to order, its unique ability to conform to the host pipe dimensions will permit the use of pipeliner from inventory so that our local licensed installers can rapidly respond to your emergency needs. Ultraliner is there when you need us, and then we're quickly out of your way.
Exceptional Expandability (enabling lining of bends and diameter transitions)
15" (375 mm) Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner expanded to fit an 18" (450 mm) pipe
With its exceptional expandability, Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner is able to accomplish what has here-to-fore been impossible. The expandability of Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner is unrestrained and therefore, Ultraliner is able to conform and tightly fit to the variable dimensions of the host pipe. This ensures that Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner consistently provides a tight fit along the entire length of the host pipe. The exceptional expandability of the PVC Alloy material uniquely enables Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner to accommodate diameter transitions, severe bends (up to 90 degrees) and diameter restricting off-set joints without the formation of "speed bumps" (folds of excess material) or vertical buckling. As a "solid" thermoplastic, even when lining across pressure concentration points such as off-set joints and bends, Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner will provide a predictable final wall thickness. The flow of the solid (as opposed to a liquid) material is restrained at the point of pressure concentration resulting in a thicker liner where the strength is needed the most.
The severe bends above are within a pipe in Scarborough [near Toronto], Ontario, Canada. The separated and off-set joints were exfiltrating sewage and the pipe had to be repaired; however, digging was not an option due to concerns regarding community disruption. Previously, noone thought the pipes could be trenchlessly repaired. Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner was employed to successfully stabilize the pipes without the need for any digging.
With Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner, the final wall thickness can be engineered and manufactured to consistently meet or exceed project specifications and/or end-user requests even when expanding the pipe to accommodate diameter transitions. [The pipeliner is extruded thicker so that it has the desired wall thickness upon expansion.] To state it succinctly, Ultraliner expands to conform to your needs.
Ease of Establishing a New Memory
Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner is manufactured to retain its round memory. Once pulled through the pipeline, it is expanded tightly against the host pipe. The new conformation becomes the pipeliner's new memory.
3" (75 mm) to 12" (300 mm) Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner is coiled in a flat shape and folded during insertion;
whereas 15" (375 mm) and larger Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner is coiled in an "H" shape.
For a thermoplastic pipeliner to be properly installed, the memory of the thermoplastic must be disrupted and a new memory established. The extrusion memory can be overcome through heating above a certain temperature range and/or by stretching the thermoplastic. If the extrusion memory is not disrupted during installation, the pipeliner will have a tendency to return over time to its manufactured conformation. Such memory effects can cause a pipeliner to shrink radially as it returns to its extruded diameter, or -- if the pipeliner's memory is folded -- may even cause the pipeliner to return to its folded conformation. [Note: Ultraliner is manufactured to have a round memory. The shaping of the 12" (300 mm) and smaller pipeliners into a flattened shape and of the 15" (375 mm) and larger diameter pipeliners into the "H" shape at the manufacturing facility is performed at a lower temperature which permits the Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner to maintain a round extrusion memory.] Ultraliner's proprietary manufacturing process and installation process (which incorporates both heating and stretching of the material) are optimized to work in conjunction with the PVC Alloy's unique material characteristics to readily disrupt the extruded memory and establish a new memory (in the shape of the host pipe) when the pipeliner is installed. As a result, with Ultraliner "where it's put is where it stays."
Ability to Thoroughly Heat and Relax the Pipeliner
Typical PVC compounds are natural insulators and cool easily. Ultraliner's unique PVC Alloy material is engineered to retain and conduct heat more readily. This helps to prevent selective cooling at service connections and infiltration points and enables Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner to be thermoformed (effectually "blow-molded") to the shape of any host pipe, while simultaneously relaxing the installation stresses. The ability to thoroughly heat and relax much thicker pipeliners also enables Ultraliner to successfully produce and install larger diameter pipeliners. Ultraliner's unparalleled record of successful PVC pipeliner installations is largely a result of the PVC Alloy's exceptional ductility (as opposed to the brittleness of typical PVC compounds which have a tendency to crack and split during the installation process.) and the ease of properly heating and relaxing Ultraliner's PVC Alloy pipeliners. The ability to thoroughly heat and relax much thicker pipeliners is further evidence of the exceptionally wide window of installation forgiveness of Ultraliner's PVC Alloy pipeliners.
Less Experience Required
The decisions of the field crew do not affect the material properties, chemical resistance, or wall thickness of the installed Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner.
With Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner, the field installation process has much less influence upon a successful installation. An Ultraliner crew only needs 10,000 (3 km) to 20,000 feet (6 km) of experience to provide superior quality assurance under equivalent field conditions. When the differences in the complexity and the windows of forgiveness of the installation processes are considered, the lower experience requirements for Ultraliner's licensees becomes clearly understandable. Additionally, Ultraliner has Field Service personnel with over 200,000 feet (60 km) of experience who are often available to assist our licensees when required. Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner has a "shorter learning curve," and the Corporate provided "in the field" training and continuous field support enable our licensees to rapidly prepare themselves to meet your most demanding trenchless rehabilitation needs.
With the ever-increasing volume of work which must be done [40% of the United States' underground piping infrastructure needs to be replaced or repaired within the next 20 years], it will become increasingly difficult to rely upon a single contractor or supplier to meet all of your needs. As locating and hiring experienced personnel becomes increasingly difficult, existing firms will only be able to expand as quickly as they can train new personnel. Thanks to the ability to rapidly train crews, our network of local, licensed installers will be nearby and ready when you need them the most. When you consider the amount of trenchless pipe rehabilitation work your agency will be required to complete within the next several years, it is reassuring to know that Ultraliner's growing network of local, licensed installers will be in your area to help provide quality installations at a cost-effective price.
Reduced Risk
No contractor nor product is perfect 100% of the time, although perfection is what each of us strives for. Ultraliner's unparalleled record of successful pipeliner installations is evidence of our successful efforts to ensure quality installations and to reduce the risk faced by our licensed installers and their customers. Knowing that problems will occasionally arise with even the best products and contractors, the question becomes "what happens when...?" Will the product manufacturer and the contractor be able to work together with the customer to ensure a win-win-win resolution to the problem?
One of the primary goals of trenchless pipe rehabilitation (in addition to structural renewal, infiltration control, and cost-savings) is to avoid community disruption. One must consider what the alternatives will be if a trenchless pipeliner installation is unsuccessful. If the design requirements are not met by the installed pipeliner and the pipeliner is at risk of failure, how can the pipeliner be repaired or replaced? Can the pipeliner be structurally stabilized with a trenchless repair? If necessary, can the pipeliner be removed without digging and replacing? Considering the cost disparity between a trenchless installation and a trenched replacement, what is the financial risk which must be absorbed by the contractor if the installation is unsuccessful?
With thermoplastic pipeliners, such as Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner, such risks are greatly reduced. The design properties (such as flexural modulus, wall thickness, and chemical resistance) of thermoplastic pipeliners are established prior to installation. The installation process cannot influence the design properties; they are established and confirmed at the manufacturing facility. When necessary, sectional repairs can be used to correct localized defects, such as a misplaced service connection reinstatement. In a most dramatic situation, PVC pipeliner can be reheated and trenchlessly removed (often in one solid piece), unless the host pipe is in eminent danger of collapse. Such alternatives are much less costly and disruptive to the contractors and to their customers than digging up a pipeliner and removing it "bucket by bucket." The availability of emergency alternatives to digging further reduces the risks.
Improved Construction Safety
All trenchless pipe rehabilitation processes are inherently safer for both the construction crews and the community than traditional dig and replace techniques. The inherent value of eliminating, or even limiting, the "hazards of the trench" cannot be overstated. Some so-called "trenchless" processes absolutely require an insertion pit and/or digging at every lateral connection, and are better described as "less-trench." The Ultraliner process can be accomplished as a completely "trenchless" process when existing access points, such as manholes, are available.
Additionally, the Ultraliner process does not involve the use of any caustic or noxious chemicals. Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner has received approval for use in environmentally sensitive areas where the EPA has denied approval to other technologies. Ultraliner provides a safer and more hospitable construction environment for the community, the environment, and the crews.
Dimensional Stability
Reinstated service connection still showing no movement and a tight fit after one year (as is typical!)
Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner and the Ultraliner installation process have been specifically engineered to ensure dimensional stability. A properly installed Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner will not exhibit post-installation shrinkage, neither radially nor longitudinally. Our installation performance history, customer satisfaction, and industry reputation provide ample evidence of the success of our efforts. To install a dimensionally stable pipeliner, the sources of shrinkage must be understood and overcome. Whenever any trenchless rehabilitation product has a performance failure, it adversely affects the entire trenchless rehabilitation industry. Hydroliner LLC is making efforts to educate the entire trenchless rehabilitation industry regarding how to avoid post-installation shrinkage.
We encourage all in the industry to read and consider the FAQ entry "What causes post-installation shrinkage of a pipeliner?" and to join in further dialogue to completely eliminate this unnecessary problem.
Exceptionally Tight Fit
Lined Corrugated Pipe
When Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner is tightly expanded against the host pipe, the heat combined with the radial stretching of the material will reset the memory of the pipeliner to its newly thermoformed size and conformation. To avoid the radial shrinkage caused by the coefficient of thermal expansion [CTE], the pipeliner should be cooled using an aftercooler and/or an ice bath to bring the temperature as close to (or even below) ambient as possible while the pipeliner is held tightly against the host pipe with internal pressure. As a result of an installation process developed with an understanding of PVC material behaviors, a properly installed Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner will have no tendency to radially shrink and will maintain a tight fit.
The typical annular gap of a properly installed PVC pipeliner is approximately the thickness of a business card. A properly installed PVC pipeliner will fit at least as tightly as all other tight-fitting pipeliners on the market. In fact, upon direct inspection of an excavated section of Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner, the chief inspector of Nashville, Tennessee stated that the pipeliner was "the tightest-fitting pipeliner they had ever used in Nashville."
Greater Infiltration Reduction
As a result of its exceptionally tight fit, the approximately 100,000 linear feet (30 km) of Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner installed in Nashville, Tennessee had amongst the highest infiltration reduction results in the entire Nashville program as compared with all other products used as determined by flow monitoring.
In Ultraliner's hometown of Oxford, Alabama, the use of Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner together with manhole rehabilitation, and selective point repairs has eliminated 500,000 gallons (1,900,000 L) of infiltration and inflow [I&I] per day out of a total peak volume of approximately 4 million gallons (15 million L) per day with only 10% of the system rehabilitated. As a result of Oxford's routine operations and maintenance [O&M] program, which includes pipe rehabilitation with Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner and a routine cleaning and maintenance program, Oxford, Alabama did not have a single sanitary sewer overflow [SSO] or a discharge violation in more than a year and a half, including during a major 20 year rainfall event that resulted in overflowing storm sewers.
Permanently Controls Root Intrusion
Rehabilitating a pipe not only controls infiltration, but it also controls exfiltration of sewage into the surrounding soil , and the resulting root intrusion. Blockages caused by root intrusion cause many localized sanitary sewer overflows [SSOs]. Roots grow toward the source of moisture and nutrients; with the pipeline sealed, the tendency for the roots to grow toward and into the pipeline is eliminated. Particularly when infiltration, exfiltration and/or roots are a problem, it is wise to simultaneously address the rehabilitation of leaking lateral connections to prevent root intrusion at the laterals, which will otherwise cause renewed maintenance problems as the roots grow from the laterals into the main pipes. Pipe rehabilitation with Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner can structurally restore the pipes while stopping the structural degradation caused by root intrusion.
Improved Flow
As a result of cleaning the pipes, significantly reducing infiltration, and controlling root intrusion, local available flow capacity is gradually restored as the entire collection system is rehabilitated. As pipe capacity upstream is regained, previously surcharged downstream pipes will have the capacity to accept local infiltration which had previously been unable to enter the full host pipe (often referred to as "potential I&I"). As a result, although flow improvements may not be immediately apparent at the treatment plant until until large portions of a basin have been rehabilitated, the improvements will be measurable within the rehabilitated line segments. As the system is "tightened" through further rehabilitation, reclaimed flow capacity from infiltration reduction can become quite dramatic.
In addition to regaining capacity through elimination of extraneous flows, the smooth surface of the Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner (with a material manning coefficient of 0.009) improves flow rates, thereby maintaining (and often slightly improving) flow capacity despite the slight decrease in internal diameter. Because of the tight conformance to the shape of the host pipe, the effective manning of the installed pipeliner is likely 0.010. Some claim that a "slime layer" will gradually develop on all pipes, resulting in an effective manning of 0.013 for both the host pipe and the pipeliner. Flow rates are likely to increase by a negligible amount, so significant flow capacity increases [independent from the reduction of I&I] should not be expected from any tight or close fitting pipeliner. If significantly increased flow capacity is a greater priority than avoidance of digging and disrupting the surface, then "less-trench" technologies such as pipebursting [which have the ability to "up-size" and create a 150% increase in flow capacity] should be considered.
[For more information on this topic, we suggest you join in the discussion regarding the FAQ entry: "Do tight-fitting pipeliners provide a significant increase in flow capacity?"]
Installation NOT weather dependent / Extends “Construction Season”
Installations during New Hampshire and Colorado Winters
Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner's wide thermoforming window often permits our product to be installed under extreme environmental conditions. Our pipeliner has been successfully used in the torrid heat of South Florida to the frigid cold of Alaska. The Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner installed in Alaska survived the coldest winter in 20 years in which the frost lines dropped below the burial depths of the pipeliner. Ultraliner was successfully installed in North Carolina while completely submersed by a flooding river. Ultraliner was successfully installed less than 6 feet from the Atlantic Ocean during a New Hampshire winter while extremely cold infiltration flowed around the pipeliner. In Colorado, Ultraliner was successfully installed while the ambient temperature was below 0 degrees F (-18 C)!
Able to be Used Under Extreme Loading Conditions
Truck and Train Loading
Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner has stabilized crushed clay pipe under a shallow (approximately 6 feet deep) railroad crossing in Alabama, where the pipeliner is subjected to routine logging truck traffic and severe train loadings several times a day. We have installed our pipe in cracked and deflecting concrete storm sewers underneath a four-lane highway under construction in Florida and the pipeliner resisted the loads of the road grading equipment during the construction process. Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliners have been used to structurally stabilize pipes around the country which were buried up to 20 feet deep with high groundwater. The flexible pipe-soil interaction enhances the strength and compliments the toughness and ductility of Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner providing structural integrity which cannot be matched by mere material stiffness.
Able to be Used with Extremely Deteriorated Host Pipes
Ultraliner is the preferred product for lining extremely deteriorated and structurally distressed pipes.
Because Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner is pulled into place, contact with the crown of a crushed pipe is avoided during insertion. By avoiding 360 degree contact with the structurally distressed host pipe, the risk of causing a collapse during insertion is greatly reduced. Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner supports the full length of the host pipe during pressurization, thereby avoiding the risk of collapsing a structurally compromised host pipe in front of an inversion head.
Once lined, the hinged joints and other imperfections of the structurally distressed host pipe will generate points of stress concentration within the pipeliner. Points of stress concentration cannot be avoided when lining such a severely deteriorated pipe. The greater the load attracted to the pipeliner, the higher the stress levels which will develop at such imperfections. The goal, therefore, should be to design the pipeliner so as to limit the amount of load attracted to the imperfections, in order to reduce the degree of stress to which the pipeliner will be subjected. "Design smarter so the pipeliner doesn't have to work harder!"
A fundamental law which should never be forgotten in the design of a buried structure is: "Load is attracted to the stiffest point." To easily comprehend this law, imagine four people carrying a piece of furniture. The one who lifts the hardest inevitably carries the most load. The one who lifts the least, carries little or even no load at all. Unless the individual carrying the most load is exceptionally stronger than the others, he will likely fatigue the fastest. Buried structures perform similarly.
Over time, pipes reach an equilibrium with the surrounding soil, whereby, as the soil stiffness gradually increases due to consolidation, the soil tunnel begins to carry the majority of the soil load. A crushed pipe is effectively void of inherent stiffness and is carrying little if any load. Crushed pipe is, therefore, a perfect example of the surrounding soil tunnel carrying the soil load, thereby preventing collapse. The existing, temporarily stable "hole in the ground" needs to be permanently stabilized against erosion in order to prevent further degradation of the surrounding soil tunnel. After pipelining, the soil tunnel will re-consolidate over a 2 to 3 year period and will continue to carry the majority of the soil load.
An extremely deteriorated host pipe can be structurally renewed by stabilizing the existing soil tunnel with the use of Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner. Using too stiff of a pipeliner can disrupt the existing pipe-soil equilibrium and will attract unnecessary loads to the points of stress concentration in the pipeliner (at every crack and imperfection in the host pipe), thereby increasing the risk of failure. Although the pipeliner needs to be designed with sufficient wall thickness to ensure ring stability, a lower stiffness pipeliner will generate lower bending moments and can actually have greater long-term structural stability. [Just as the furniture mover who doesn't lift as hard will not tire out as fast, and will therefore be able to work longer.]
Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner provides full structural integrity independent of the load-bearing capacity of the existing host pipe. Ultraliner offers both a higher complaince (i.e. lower stiffness) PVC Alloy pipeliner [complying with ASTM F 1871] and a higher stiffness PVC Alloy pipeliner [complying with ASTM F 1504] enabling the project engineer to select the most suitable product for a particular application. The ductility, toughness, and flexibility of Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner provide a strength which surpasses mere stiffness.
Able to be Used Where Accessibility is Limited
Pipes and manholes are not always conveniently located. Sometimes it is absolutely impossible to get vehicles anywhere near the manholes or pipe ends. With Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner, if a steam line can be run from the boiler truck to the access point, our skilled installers can generally find a way to line the pipe. When necessary, Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner has been carried to the bottom of reservoirs, into backyards, and into narrow alleys so that otherwise "inaccessible" pipes could be repaired. Installers have pulled the pipeliner into a manhole in the basement of a building and have even floated their winch on a raft while lining storm sewers along Florida waterways. Ultraliner can often repair pipes which you [and our competitors] thought were impossible to repair.
Able to be Used to Renew Building Ducts
Although Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner has a distinctive odor during installation, it does not produce noxious or caustic fumes. Additionally, although Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner is manufactured round, it can be "blow-molded" to essentially conform to square conduits. The comparatively odorless installation and the ability to conform to square conduits makes Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner the preferable product for lining the leaking ducts common within many buildings. Building renovation contractors are turning to Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner for the ability to renew failing ductwork without tearing apart floors, ceilings, and walls.
Decreased Damage to Private Property
Installation in progress in a Vancouver, BC suburb
Although a "right of way" may legally permit an agency to dig and replace an existing pipe, protection of customer [and political] relationships often makes avoiding damage to private property a high priority. Unhappy customers and public servants can make it very difficult for you to do your job. Home owners can become quite upset if their mature landscaping or trees have to be removed in order to repair or replace a pipe. Pipe rehabilitation using Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner is a relatively non-disruptive and cost-effective alternative.
Often, homeowners return from work initially thinking the crews they saw in the morning left without repairing the pipes. Ultraliner crews routinely receive compliments and appreciation from neighborhood residents for the relative lack of disruption. The most appropriate reply from the crew is, "You should thank your agency for selecting trenchless pipe rehabilitation instead of digging up the neighborhood."
Because of the particularly nondisruptive nature of the Ultraliner process, even as compared with other pipe rehabilitation alternatives, the Ashville, North Carolina Metropolitan Sewer District selected Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner to repair the pipe along the driveway to the front entrance of the Biltmore Estate. The estate personnel and the agency were both very pleased at how quickly the project was completed and that the pipes were repaired without marring the world famous beauty of the Biltmore property.
Decreased Community Disruption
Community disruption has many unmeasured but significant costs, both financial and political. Road closures , which are generally unavoidable while a pipe is dug up and replaced, adversely affect commuters and can have a serious financial impact upon local businesses. Whenever possible, such disruptions should be avoided or minimized to protect the community. With Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner, installations are completed quickly and with minimal community disruption. In Scarborough (Toronto), Ontario, Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner was used to rehabilitate pipes underneath Kingston Road (Canadian Highway 2), a four-lane thoroughfare -- not a lane of which could be blocked during rush hours. Using Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner, the contractor was able to successfully complete the project while only only disrupting one lane of traffic between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. each day.
Generally Avoids Destruction of Surface Structures
Whether fences must be removed or pavement must be cut, digging up pipes with structures built over them is a logistical and political nightmare. Homeowners rarely accept the legal "right of way" without a challenge. The departments responsible for repair and maintenance of roads don't appreciate the disruption of traffic or the cutting of pavement. Cut pavement has a reduced lifespan. To protect their budgets, many transportation departments now assess a pro-rated fee to utilities when they cut pavement. Such practices are further helping agencies to assess the actual cost-savings of trenchless rehabilitation, as compared to open-cut alternatives. Installation of Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner is a truly trenchless process which can help avoid the costly disruption of surface structures.
Decreased Maintenance Costs
"A Preferable and Affordable Necessity"
Repairing a pipe once it has collapsed is more costly than renewing the life of the existing pipe through the use of trenchless rehabilitation. Once pipes have exceeded their useful design life, pipe rehabilitation is "a preferable and affordable necessity" as compared to the maintenance costs associated with regular service calls for de-rooting, point repairs, overflow cleanups, repairing potholes from soil subsidence, etc.
Lining with Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner provides your maintenance personnel with a new, jointless PVC pipe which will result in a reduction in service calls as well as longer periods between required maintenance. And PVC is a material your personnel know and trust. With Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner, your personnel can continue to use jetting machines for occasional pressure jetting of the pipeline without damaging the durable PVC Alloy pipeliner. Additionally, they can attach new service laterals with traditional methods such as saddles and/or compression fittings.
Environmentally Friendly
Agencies such as the California Department of Transportation [CalTrans] and Georgia Department of Transportation [GDOT] have specifically selected Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner to rehabilitate storm sewers within their ecologically sensitive areas. The avoidance of erosion and runoff from open-cut construction practices made trenchless rehabilitation the environmentally friendly choice. Furthermore, Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner does not release dangerous chemicals into the environment, which the Environmental Protection Agency [EPA], CalTrans, and other agencies have considered environmentally unacceptable even when released in trace amounts.
Plastic pipes are very effective at protecting the precious water of the world. Because of their durability and ease of proper installation, a relatively small percentage of plastic pipes show any evidence of leakage. Plastic pipes keep our potable water from leaking out of our distribution systems and from becoming contaminated. Plastic pipes keep sewage from leaking out of our sewer systems and from overflowing as a result of excessive infiltration, thus protecting our surface water and groundwater. Because plastic pipes are resistant to degradation, they will continue to protect our water for years to come.
Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner is being used to help resolve one of the greatest environmental problems of our age: the pollution of the world's water. As part of a complete sewer system rehabilitation program, Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner can assist in the elimination of sanitary sewer overflows, by helping to seal leaking pipes while simultaneously structurally renewing them. The result of pipe rehabilitation which uses plastic pipes is water which is safer for drinking and safer for recreation.
Strengths of the Company
Corporate Service and Support
Ultraliner Licensee and Sales Network
Recognizing that no individual construction company will ever keep pace with the rapidly increasing demand for trenchless rehabilitation, Hydroliner LLC made the decision to develop a network of skilled and reputable construction firms. With Ultraliner, product design properties are controlled at the manufacturing facility, assuring product quality even without direct managerial control of the installation crews.
Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner routinely meets the needs of large cities, as well as small towns and departments of transportation. Whether your project needs are large or small, Ultraliner will be there for you. Ultraliner's ability to cost-effectively service projects of any scope or size also permits our licensed installers to secure an equivalent amount of work in a much smaller territory than is generally possible with other trenchless rehabilitation solutions. Because they can concentrate on local projects, our licensed installers are able to develop stronger local relationships and to provide higher levels of service to their customers while maintaining exceptional cost-competitiveness.
Through our network of local, licensed installers, we are able to offer our products through contractors you likely already know and trust --- contractors who are available when you need them at a reasonable cost and who have a variety of products and services with which to meet your needs. And the lower mobilization costs of our local licensees provide you with additional cost savings. The combined expertise of Hydroliner LLC and our network of installers is available to each local, licensed installer providing you with customized support for all of your trenchless rehabilitation needs.
Working together with Hydroliner LLC and our local installers, we can assist you in finding the optimal solutions to your needs. As a customer, you receive all of the advantages of an extensive network of trenchless rehabilitation professionals, together with the advantages of local service and support.
Exceptional Local Field Service Support
Ultraliner's Field Service Representatives
The crews of our licensed installers receive extensive training and support from Ultraliner's own Field Service Representatives, who are available for consultation and technical assistance. When Ultraliner signs on a new licensee, key personnel from the newly licensed construction firm come to our corporate headquarters in Anniston, Alabama for in-depth training regarding the installation of Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner. As a vital part of this extensive training, new licensees work closely with Ultraliner's Field Service Crew using Ultraliner's own training equipment to install pipeliners.
Upon returning, the trained personnel are able to draw upon their experience using our training equipment, combined with their own years of construction expertise, to determine the best configuration for their own installation equipment. We also encourage our network of licensed installers to communicate with and learn from one another.
Once the new licensee's equipment has been prepared for use, our Field Service Representatives travel to the territory of the new licensed installer and assist the new crew with installing Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner using the installer's own equipment. This provides our Field Service Representatives the opportunity to make private suggestions to the management regarding potential improvements to the equipment, in addition to addressing other issues which could enhance the new crew's productivity. Once the Ultraliner Field Service Manager and the new Licensee are both satisfied with the proficiency of the new equipment and crew, the required training is completed and the new Licensee is approved for independent installations.
After training is completed, our Field Service Representatives continue to be available for consultation and technical assistance to both the licensees and their customers. Our Field Service Representatives maintain their own proficiency and gain further experience between training sessions by installing pipe in towns and cities in close proximity to the Ultraliner corporate headquarters.
Industry Leadership
Hydroliner LLC has established itself as one of North America's leading corporations in the trenchless pipe rehabilitation industry. In the near future, Hydroliner's industry leadership will begin to expand globally. We are widely recognized as a performance leader in the trenchless rehabilitation industry, and we actively promote the scientific and ethical development of the industry through our involvement with and membership in many professional associations which address the industry's needs. Additionally, Hydroliner LLC and its employees expend considerable effort to inform engineers, and society in general, regarding the need for a sustainable underground infrastructure and the importance of eliminating sanitary sewer overflows [SSOs].
Hydroliner LLC encourages its employees to participate in activities which benefit the trenchless technology industry. We belong to many professional associations and actively participate in their various committees and projects. Employees of Hydroliner LLC routinely spend their time and effort on projects which benefit the trenchless industry as a whole. Hydroliner recognizes the importance of the trenchless pipe rehabilitation industry and is committed to acting in the best interest of the industry and the environment.
PVC Expertise
"PVC is our business;
When you want to know what a PVC pipeliner can do, ask the experts."
Hydroliner LLC is the industry expert regarding trenchless pipe rehabilitation with PVC pipeliners. Hydroliner's extensive network of licensed installers has more crews routinely installing Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner than all other PVC fold and form technologies combined. The concept that with proper enhancement of PVC material properties, a PVC pipeliner could be effectually "blow-molded" inside of another pipe is the basis of the Ultraliner product. After several years of market research, Hydroliner LLC entered into a multi-million dollar R&D project with Vista Chemical and Dupont for the development of a suitable PVC material. With the material expertise of numerous chemical engineers within Dupont and Vista Chemical, years of extrusion expertise, and the initial field expertise of Boatman Construction, the unique "PVC Alloy" material was developed as a next generation enhancement of PVC compounds for use in specialty applications. Hydroliner's in-house expertise, experienced network of licensed installers, and extensive PVC industry relationships continue to enhance Hydroliner's position as the indisputable leader in fold and form, PVC pipeliners.
Corporate Mission Statement
We believe that for Hydroliner to have long-term success, the relationships with our licensed installers and with the end-users of our products must always be win-win-win. We recognize that a short-term gain at the expense of the customers will weaken the long-term position of a company. To the best of our ability, we try to associate ourselves with corporations and individuals who share our corporate philosophy.
Commitment to Excellence
In order to ensure consistent quality, Hydroliner made extraordinary efforts to develop a material which limits the influence of the installation process upon the quality of the pipeliner. Our team performed three and a half years of extensive field testing prior to taking the Ultraliner PVC Alloy Pipeliner to market in the early 1990’s. We are committed to excellence and are continuously engaged in new research and development projects to further advance the trenchless rehabilitation industry. Give us the opportunity and we will engineer a solution for your needs.
"So Advanced It's Simple"