How Would You Install 200 Miles Of Pipeline?

rshackleford

title says it all.

if you were to take on a project to install 200 miles of water pipeline in a rural setting (very rural--very, very rural) how would you go about it?

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whatley posse

rshackfleford

jmic

Just one length at a time.

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Joe

rshackleford

that's the opposite of how i would do it, but catch a little sarcasm in your post.

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rshackfleford

mickeyco

One really long piece with no seams, how big a pipe?





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Some people climb mountains. I take out the trash. But we both do it for the same reason.

rshackleford

sorry, good question.
its not a straight line, but long runs of 3 to 8 miles at a time. kind of a network.
pipe sizes would be 2" up to 8".
also, frost free depth of 7.5' of cover.

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rshackfleford

jmic

The question without knowing all the facts is just to vague. What's the terrain like, tree clearing, swamps, rock, depth, straight main with no laterals. To many unknowns.

Not trying to be sarcastic. Yet.

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Joe

rshackleford

rolling hills with all soil types but not solid rock. some soils with rocks and some without rocks.

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rshackfleford

mickeyco

That's tiny, should be a breeze, I worked on the US-Canadian gas pipeline, 42", through the mountains of Idaho, all buried.

At that size I would think directional boring and trenching, but I don't know much about getting the pipe in the ground, I did the connecting and disconnecting.





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Some people climb mountains. I take out the trash. But we both do it for the same reason.

dayexco

4" or less, i'd plow if able to....otherwise, i'd get myself a wolfe wheel trencher, and go like hell!!

in fact, you're going to find that if you can't produce a mile and a half a day...if you're talking rural water work anyway....you're not in the ballgame.

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someday, i'll be as patient as Nick.

concretemasonry

For a job like that, I would hire someone that has experience and has done it before and does not have to go to the internet for help. I would pay a good base plus a big bonus. - Anytime you get done early, the job is a winner!!

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Dick

Engineer, designer and consultant recently active domestically and internationally on construction and design in about 35 countries.

rshackleford

there is not plowing or trenching in this country.

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rshackfleford

mickeyco

Then use highly trained ground hogs with stainless steel shovels and two-way radios.






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Some people climb mountains. I take out the trash. But we both do it for the same reason.

cleveman

Yeah, you should stick to the expeditions to Antarctica and what not. Be sure to bring plenty of dogs along.

Celtic

What country are you talking about?


It's like pulling teeth with you.
How about some real details for some real answers?

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rshackleford

alright,it was a poorly proposed question.

i am in the usa and am looking at rural water work. the ground is sand, clay, wet, dry, no rocks, and lots of rocks. in 200 miles of pipeline a little bit of all would be encountered.

i would get a 30 ton excavator and backfill machine and start digging. i would expect between 2500' to 3000' in a 12 hour work day. i would not pull lay all the pipe on the surface and not put a person in the trench.

i can see that too many details are lacking to get a really good discussion on this type of work and i apologize about that.

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rshackfleford

concretemasonry

300' per hour to excavate place and backfill per hour?

What about the weather and groundwater that comes with hills, sand, gravel and clay. You are talking about over 1,056,000 feet (unless my calculator is wrong) at 2500 ft/day (about 300 feet per operating hour) will require 422 days, and that is for water pipeline and not sewer.

Check you numbers and do not base them on an optimistic guess.

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Dick

Engineer, designer and consultant recently active domestically and internationally on construction and design in about 35 countries.

dayexco

#1. if you've got the bonding capability to bid/get 200 mile rural water jobs...you'd have it figured out already what your best plan of attack on installation is, and wouldn't need to be asking these questions.

#2. were you able to plow/trench...let's say, 80-100 miles of it, why wouldn't you?

3. biggest rural water job i've had is 30 miles...we trenched about 25 of it. wished i had a plow setup like in this pic. this contractor could plow 5" on down, some days got 7 miles a day. ave. was right at 4.

Attached Thumbnails

 

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someday, i'll be as patient as Nick.

rshackleford

plow trains are big bucks! i don't know much about them. although there would be all kinds of soil, most of it would be in the kind of clay that makes a 30 ton machine use 8-10 gallons of fuel per hour. it was my assumption that a plow train would not work in ground like this. also i expect the spoil to be littered with baseball to basketball sized rocks.

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rshackfleford

dayexco

if all the bigger rock you have is a basketball sized rock....and you compete against, and won the contract...i assume you have...against a plow or wheel trencher using an excavator...you're in trouble.

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someday, i'll be as patient as Nick.

rshackleford

you think that a plow or wheel trencher will have no problem with this kind of rock? they stop our chain trencher dead in its tracks.

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rshackfleford