German Standard DWA-A 125E: Pipe Jacking and Related Techniques
After the publication of the new Standard DWA-A 125 by the German Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste (DWA) in 2008 an English translation is now available, which provides an extensive set of rules for English-speaking countries. It considers the latest state of technology, especially by incorporating the DIN EN 12889 standard “Trenchless construction and testing of drains and sewers.”
With the new DWA-A 125E, a good compromise has been found between the ambition to develop a concise Standard without overregulation and the ambition to provide extensive information for proper and economically efficient construction, sufficient for both planner and contractor. So this Standard addresses to experts working in municipalities, associations, planning offices and authorities that deal with the planning of trenchless construction projects, as well as experts who deal with the construction and quality assurance of projects applying the trenchless method of construction.
DIN EN 12889, which permits application of DWA-A 125E, only provides very brief and general descriptions. Therefore, it only helps planners and applicants to a limited extent. In many aspects, the German Standard contains details that are not yet dealt with and covered by the European Standard. Thus, the two technical regulations supplement each other. However, it is important to point out that DWA-A 125E generally applies to all pipe jacking projects and related techniques, while DIN EN 12889 only applies to drains and sewers.
Summarized, this Standard deals with the underground installation of pre-fabricated pipes with different geometry of the cross-section. By displacing, ramming, drilling, jacking or by applying other techniques, a cavity, into which the pipes are pulled, pushed or jacked, is created in the soil. With the installation, existing sewers or pipelines may also be traversed and replaced. For shield drives that are not described, the Standard can be applied correspondingly. However, it does not apply to mining techniques.
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