Gulf Construction Online - Ameron offers solution for clogged pipes

Concrete Structural Repairs

Ameron offers solution for clogged pipes

01 April 2004

Ameron Saudi Arabia claims that its in-situ cement-mortar lining process provides a cost-effective solution for rehabilitating existing pipelines experiencing clogging.

Saudi-based Ameron has been involved in the manufacture and supply of concrete pressure pipes in Saudi Arabia and the other GCC countries over the past 25 years. The company has specialised in concrete pressure pipe technology, including cement-mortar lining of customer-supplied steel pipes and fittings.
“Ameron can rehabilitate existing pipelines experiencing clogging that prevent water from flowing freely and cause pipe burst,” says a spokesman for the company.
“When this kind of problem occurs, you have two alternatives – replacement of the clogged pipe or its rehabilitation. Replacement of the line with a new pipe is a costly solution, requiring the complete excavation of the route of the water mains, with all the inevitable consequences of major traffic disruptions and residential and business access interference.
“Ameron cares a lot about the consequences that a replacement can bring. The solution lies in an in-situ rehabilitation of the line. Ameron gets inside the pipes without removing them, and rehabilitates and protects the pipeline through cement-mortar lining.”
Cement-mortar is applied into the interior of steel pipes as well as fittings, creating a smooth, dense, and homogenous finish that protects the pipe from tuberculation and builds a chemical shield against corrosion. Because of its high-compressive strength and arch action, cement-mortar lining does not depend on bonding to the interior pipe wall.
“This is a major advantage over those linings, which depend entirely upon their bond or adhesive strength to hold them in place. Unlike bituminous and thin film linings, which protects only by sealing the water away from the metal, cement-mortar lining achieves superior protection through the creation of a zone of alkalinity on the pipe surface.
“With the protective qualities of cement-mortar lining and the amazing benefits that rehabilitation can give, customers can be assured that their pipes and the concrete pressure pipes that Ameron Saudi Arabia supplies are free from corrosion and tuberculation, he adds.
Since its founding, Ameron Saudi Arabia has been committed to providing superb concrete pressure pipes and has extended its span of repairing or rehabilitating existing deteriorated pipelines through its cement-mortar lining (CML) process.
The civil process of rehabilitation varies in two different ways:

The spinning method using belt and Trunnion machines where it cement-mortar lines various sizes of steel pipes, ranging from 75 mm to 1800 mm in diameter, and in pipe length ranging from six metres to 16 m, all in accordance with AWWA (Ameron Water Works Association) C205 standard;
The spraying method in accordance with AWWA C602, which can cement-mortar-line steel pipes from 100 mm to 1,500-plus mm in diameter, and in lengths of up to 300 m using a remote-controlled machine and a manually-operated machine. This new technology that Ameron has acquired has the capabilities of lining steel pipes in-situ process for new pipes and for the rehabilitation of existing pipelines.

The company has three huge plants located in Saudi Arabia – two in Dammam and the third located in the industrial city of Jubail. It has also expanded its operation by putting up a plant in Egypt. All plants have a capacity of producing at least 180,000 linear metres of concrete pressure pipes per year (a maximum production of 300,000 linear metres per year).
The products are manufactured in accordance with international standards such as AWWA and American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) while the company is a certified ISO 9001 conformant since 1994 and has recently upgraded to ISO 9001:2000, says the spokesman.