37 JANUARY 2023 WorldWide Drilling Resource® An Industry Unites in Response to Historic Texas Freeze Adapted from Information by Dow, Inc. and the Plastics Pipe Institute America’s infrastructure is facing a challenge. Water mains and utility pipes installed decades ago - many of them made of iron, steel, concrete, clay, or even wood - have gone well beyond their intended life span of 30 or 40 years. Meanwhile, extreme weather is wreaking havoc on these aging systems. The “once-in-a-century” Texas freeze, in February 2021, caused sections of water piping systems to burst in the small rural towns of Aspermont, Carey, and Northfield, cutting off water to residents and businesses. A 1500-foot stretch of pipe under the Double Mountain Fork Brazos River Bridge, which delivered water to Aspermont, froze solid. One hundred miles north, the 14-inch cast iron pipe carrying water between Carey and Northfield, burst in multiple failures due to thermal expansion. It was installed during Franklin Roosevelt’s presidency. The broken water pipe problem was solved by emergency efforts of a group of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe companies and the Plastics Pipe Institute (PPI). Dow donated resin to make the pipe, while Modern Dispersions provided the carbon black, a key ingredient added to the resin. Pipeline Plastics, which has several manufacturing plants in western Texas, contributed on the manufacturing end. McElroy Manufacturing, whose fusion equipment was used, provided training for the Carey/Northfield project. Industry partners collaborated with the Red River Authority of Texas to donate more than 42,000 feet of leak-and-corrosion resistant HDPE 4710 pipe. This pipe is the result of Dow’s CONTINUUM™ Bimodal Polyethylene Resins, which deliver extremely high levels of toughness and durability in virtually any climate. The newly installed lines will allow the three towns to avoid an estimated 3.5 million gallons of annual water loss due to water line breaks and required repairs. Other sustainability benefits include material reduction potential, lower life cycle costs, less disruptive installation with horizontal directional drilling (HDD) techniques, and more. Dell Doyle, a Texas-born Dow scientist whose grandfather grew up in Aspermont, spearheaded the project. “Texans helping Texans is a common phrase here,” he said. “By working with others, we know we can make a bigger impact and help address aging infrastructure.” With a design life of 100+ years, the new lines will safeguard drinking water for decades to come. The project was recognized with a Project of the Year Award from PPI and a Municipal Leadership Award from the Alliance for PE Pipe. DIR HDD was used to install pipe under the Double Mountain Fork Brazos River. Photo courtesy of Dow, Inc.
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