Snaking of buried large diameter HDPE fused pipe
Snaking of buried large diameter HDPE fused pipe
(OP)
For small diameter HDPE pipes, sometimes it is recommended to snake the pipe in the trench if installed in hot weather to avoid thermal expansion/contraction stresses. For large diameter hdpe pipes, is this also done and if so how do you snake a large diameter hdpe in the trench? Thanks.





RE: Snaking of buried large diameter HDPE fused pipe
"Placing pipe that has been in direct sunlight in a cooler trench will result in thermal contraction of the pipe’s length. This contraction can generate force which could result in pull-out at mechanical couplings or other buried structures. Allow pipe to cool before making connections to an anchored joint, flange, or a fitting that requires protection against excessive pull-out forces. Covering the pipe with embedment will facilitate cooling."
http://www.plasticpipe.org/pdf/chapter07.pdf
RE: Snaking of buried large diameter HDPE fused pipe
Assuming there is sound technical or overriding reason for doing this e.g. with fused or welded plastic pipe systems, it sure would seem snaking the pipe wouldn't much help the hydraulics, uniform underlying soil support of piping in common trenches, future dependable locateability of the pipeline, nor necessarily the integrity of any lateral service/connections (as some folks are also now recommending bent plastic pipes should not be tapped for stress concentration/safety reasons). Also, I agree one might also wonder about the practicality of this approach in larger, stiffer pipelines in trenches, and also e.g. in HDD applications?
RE: Snaking of buried large diameter HDPE fused pipe
RE: Snaking of buried large diameter HDPE fused pipe