Educating Canada on Grouting
With an eye on educating new technicians and reinforcing training in more experienced grouting crews from Quebec and Ontario, Aries Industries Inc., Logiball and Prime Resins joined together to host a Municipal Grout School.
More than 15 years ago, Dick Schantz, a product manager for Aries Industries and former chairman of NASSCO’s Infiltration Control Grouting Committee (ICGC) had the idea of gathering grout equipment manufacturers and chemical grout suppliers to organize what was then called the Grout Boot Camp.
Schantz saw a need for educating grouting technicians, municipal operators, engineers and inspectors on the benefits and mechanics of grouting and grout mixing for predictable results for inflow and infiltration (I/I) control in municipal sewers.
RELATED: NASSCO Report – Sewer Grouting Provides Permanent Solution to a Costly Problem
The first class was held in 2006 in Pompano Beach, Florida at the Aries Industries Service Center.
Since then, the agenda, presentations and demonstrations have evolved and are continuously refined so that technicians can better understand and operate grouting equipment for optimal results. A large section of time is spent on troubleshooting, as it is an essential component in the chemical grouting process and it is important to give the attendees the tools needed to be efficient in the field.
Industry specialists can agree that education is key. The two-day class is now in its 16th year, with at least two classes per year. Now called the Municipal Sewer Grout School, this educational class has been held more than 40 times throughout North America with more than 1,000 attendees over the years.
The most recent gathering – taking place the week of May 9 – was held at the Aries Canada headquarters in Vaughan, Ontario. Hydreau Environnement graciously drove their Aries CCTV/Grout to the class. The two-day class is a mixture of presentations, hands on breakout sessions, demonstrations and exchanges.
Whether attendees are new or existing operators, municipal engineers, inspectors or simply taking a deeper dive in the technology, they leave with a much better understanding of the process and the tools to make this technology work for their I/I control.
RELATED: NASSCO Report – Infiltration Control Grouting Committee
NASSCO’s ICGC has just published two new specifications for sewer grouting. The first, “Pipeline Packer Injection Grouting Master Specification” is the culmination of a six-year effort to define the process of capital grouting. This technique of testing and sealing mainline joints and laterals is a stand-alone process aimed at creating a cradle-like grout formation promoting pipe stabilization in the bedding and a volumetrically significant, long-term, water seal outside the pipe, increasing the life cycle of a sewer system.
RELATED: Project Recap – Grouting in Ontario’s York, Peel Regions
Capital grouting methods are soundly based on actual soil-grout matrix formations observed while sealing pipes in different bedding materials using various gel times and solids concentrations. Included with the new release is an interactive grout goal calculator which will help engineers and inspectors determine the correct gel times and installation amounts necessary to achieve the expected long-term results.
The second document, “Pipeline Packer Injection Pre-Rehabilitation Grouting Master Specification” redefines the process of stopping infiltration for the purpose of installing other rehab methods – for example: Cured-in-place pipelining. These practices focus on placing a minimum amount of grout in the pipe gasket space and immediately outside the pipe defect.
In the last half of 2021, the ICGC released a new video that provides an overview of sewer grouting and the processes that are employed to eliminate I/I while creating pipe stabilization. The six-minute video (which can be viewed at nassco.org/videos) is filled with new animations, pictures and more that help visually describe the processes that are involved in mainline, lateral and manhole grouting.
With the newly released guidelines from NASSCO, the video, grout test cell white paper to come and updating the website, it’s an understatement to say that municipal grouting is on the rise.
Educating the industry on the benefits of grouting is complimentary to these actions.
Marc Anctil is president of Logiball Inc.
