GFR Liners Used in the Big Apple
EN-TECH Corp, headquartered in Closter, N.J., is a leading provider of CIPP solutions for 4 decades, offering a wide range of services from the inspection, cleaning, and rehabilitation of sewer networks, bridges, tunnels and culverts. The company’s clients have included the City of New York, The Port Authority, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Puerto Rico.
Since 2015, EN-TECH has been working with the iMPREG Group, which is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of GFR liners for trenchless pipe rehabilitation. The headquarters and production location is in Ammerbuch in southern Germany (near Stuttgart). At present, 120 employees are producing 250 miles a year of 6- to 62-in. GFR liners, in a state-of-the-art production plant and are delivered to rehabilitation companies all over the world. On specifically developed high-tech production machinery, the liners are first assembled from glass layers and then soaked with the required resin and packed into the patented, characteristic yellow outer foil for the iMPREGLiner.
As the iMPREGLiner is already ready to install and is delivered to the site securely packed and enclosed in the patented protective film, there is no need to handle chemicals on the building site at all. This way, possible risks to the environment are kept to an absolute minimum. The impregnation in the factory also ensures constant high and consistent quality, as well as styrene emissions in the negligible range. The production of the hose, as well as the installation, takes place entirely in compliance with ASTM F 2019.
In addition to an iMPREG branch in Taicang, China, a location was established in the City of Chicago last year. Now, in Richmond, Va., a state-of-the-art liner production is being created for the U.S. market, to be ready for operation by 2018. iMPREG Liners that are “Made in the USA” will rolling off of the conveyor belt. In the interim, the delivery of iMPREGLiners in standard sizes is taking place from its new warehouse, effective immediately.
The partner, EN-TECH Corp, has already had a customized UV curing system specifically set up, in order to be able to offer the extremely efficient and economical UV technology on the East Coast of the United States in future.
As the iMPREGLiner is already ready to install and is delivered to the site securely packed and enclosed in the patented protective film, there is no need to handle chemicals on the building site at all.
In July 2016, EN-TECH now had the opportunity to present the environmental rehabilitation of sewers with UV-curing glass fiber reinforced liners to representatives of the City of New York as a live installation. For the first time since the launch of the process in the United States, a glass fiber reinforce liner was installed in New York City. Nearly 30 representatives of the DDC (Department of Design and Construction) and the DEP (Department of Environmental Protection) were able to see for themselves of the handling, quality and environmental friendliness of the system.
The installation of the 15-in. iMPREGLiner over a length of 118 ft in a clay pipe posed several challenges. In the area of the missing walls and the broken fragments, a so-called support cap and partly a reinforced-fabric outer foil, was already mounted over the liner in the area of the critical points in the factory, in order to prevent overstretching of the liner and ensure secure installation. The penetrating supports were milled back prior to the installation.
In addition to this, a gas pipeline was being worked on in the road, so that just a little space was available above ground for the rehabilitation. But particularly here, the system was able to play on one of its major advantages — in comparison to other rehabilitation processes, it is extremely space-saving and fast.
Due to the excellent static properties of the iMPREGLiner, the static calculations resulted in a wall thickness of only 5 mm, despite of the poor condition of the old pipe. Low wall thickness means that the hydraulics are not reduced after the rehabilitation – on the contrary: As the liner has better flow properties than the old pipe, the flow even increases, as a rule.
Last, but not least, the rehabilitation is extremely environmentally friendly, using a glass reinforced fiber hose liner and UV curing, in comparison to the conventional rehabilitation method in open construction and also in comparison to other no-dig rehabilitation processes. The process is distinguished by an excellently low carbon footprint in the entire production and processing chain, right up to the finished product. The installation on the site alone is one of the most economical and fastest processes on the market. Larger or heavy equipment or specialist structures in the site area are not necessary.
The representatives of the City of New York were convinced of the many positive aspects of the system after the installation of the iMPREGLiner by the professional team of EN-TECH. The material samples that were taken from the holder to assess the quality after the completion of the work also provided an entirely positive result. We are pleased, together with EN-TECH, about being the pioneers in the City of New York.
This article was provided by iMPREGLiner Group.