IPP lining is relatively new in the centuries-old sewer business. It has been around for a few decades now, but only in more recent years has it become almost universally accepted as a structurally and economically sound method of pipeline rehabilitation.
In 1971, Eric Wood implemented the first cured-in-place pipe technology in London, England. He called the CIPP process Insituform, derived from the Latin meaning "form in place." Wood applied for a U.S. patent in January 1975, and it was granted two years later. Today, as everyone in this industry knows, many companies provide a vast array of cured-in-place materials and methods. The technology's evolution makes CIPP lining a viable option in more and more situations.
The "Tough Job" feature in this issue of Cleaner is a great example of how far the technology has come and how much it has changed the nature of pipeline repair and rehabilitation.
When a string of contractors tried and failed to fix leaks in a pair of storm drains without tearing up the historic Wallace-McGee house in Columbia, S.C., the owner went looking for other options. Traditional repair likely would have meant ripping up the roof, tearing through 12-inch-thick concrete walls, and damaging the irreplaceable tiles and bathtub.
It didn't take long to locate a contractor, and soon Drain Pro, in Columbia, was televising and cleaning the 30-foot-long lines in preparation for lining. The lines included a 90-degree bend, which complicated the process, but the contractor was able to use 2-mil-thick flex liners to line right through the bend.
There were obstacles, but lining presented a solution that no other repair option did, and the building's historical integrity was protected.
Another example of how CIPP lining has progressed lies further down the East Coast with Lanzo Trenchless Technologies, profiled in this issue.
In 1993, before the expiration of Eric Wood's original patent, the Miami-Dade (Fla.) Water and Sewer Authority had access to only one lining company's products. Expecting sewer rehabilitation to become a very large program, the authority wanted another bidder and so asked its contractor, Lanzo Construction Co. in Pompano Beach, to consider entering the pipelining business.
The D'Alessandro family, co-owners of Lanzo Construction, agreed, and Lanzo Trenchless Technologies became a subsidiary. Municipal work now accounts for 70 percent of the business. In 1994, Lanzo cracked the industrial/commercial market by rehabilitating a 1,750-foot-long, 30-inch acid collection trunk for the ACDelco spark plug manufacturing facility in Flint, Mich. But that's not the only unusual and substantial project the company has taken on.
Lanzo lined the 140-foot-long, twin-barrel, 108-inch culverts between Florida's Lake Okeechobee and the irrigation waters of the Seminole Indian Reservation. The company also earned a $5 million contract to rehabilitate a triple-barrel 7- by 8-foot rectangular outfall for the City of Detroit. Crews overcame bitter winter weather and the challenges of non-circular geometry to successfully install the 1,200-foot-long, 52-mm-thick oval liners.
Projects like this would have been unthinkable just a few decades ago, but the technology has rapidly advanced, and more and more contractors and manufacturers are stretching the limits with CIPP lining. As older infrastructure continues to degrade, lining technology will only become more crucial.
I hope these stories provide some inspiration and lead you to new and better solutions to some of the challenges you face every day. Perhaps you'll even come up with the next innovation that drives this industry forward.
Enjoy this month's issue.
