40 JUNE 2024 WorldWide Drilling Resource® FPVC up to the Challenge Adapted from Information by IPEX, Inc. The Canadian community of Manotick is a waterfront village on the banks of the Rideau River, located on the south edge of Ottawa. As a growing suburb, there was a critical need to bring a new water main delivering municipal drinking water to the area, as well as increasing the water capacity and reliability of service. For years, the majority of residents relied on private wells as their source of drinking water. In 2001, Manotick became part of the City of Ottawa and one of the key objectives of the consolidation was to connect to the City’s municipal drinking water system. Twenty years later, the project was ready to launch, and it was long, complex, and demanding. One of the most challenging aspects was installing piping systems beneath two separate 980-foot river crossings on the Rideau River, which serve a significant portion of Manotick residents who live on the island at the center of town. Using horizontal directional drilling, pipes had to be installed more than 16 feet under the riverbed. The design of the piping system also included several extremely sharp turns, meaning the bend radius requirements were significant. While the piping system’s required shape made this a difficult project, the depth of the trenchless installation presented even more challenges. Given how deep the pipe had to be installed, the pressure on the material and the risk of buckling were considerable. Other factors included the Canadian winter conditions, where the crew was up against the need to keep drilling fluid from freezing, pipe would be stiffer in the cold, plus at-risk fish species could be further endangered if disturbed during their egg-laying in the spring. After much discussion, it was determined fusible PVC (FPVC) was the best option for piping, due to the length and radius of the bore and the combined strength and flexibility of the material itself, since it combines the mechanical properties of PVC with a butt fusion process. Working together, the engineers and contractors were able to overcome the most demanding aspects of the job and complete the project on time, marking the longest pull of its kind in Eastern Canada. DIR
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