Renewal of water main under River Dee Estuary – ensuring water supply for over three million people

Pipe installation was central to the success of the project, as the new twin pipelines needed to run in a straight line under the River Dee Estuary on the English / Welsh borders. The project location required trenchless installation via HDD drilling. To tackle the special challenges involved in the installation of the pipeline and to meet the requirements pertaining to the pipe, egeplast UK supplied just over two kilometres of egeplast 355 mm SDR 9 SLA® Barrier Pipe. This measure not only allowed for water supply under high pressure of up to 16 bar, but also ensured the protection of the drinking water, which had to be routed through highly contaminated ground. The pipes were supplied in 12-metre lengths and welded on site under the guidance and with the support of the UK team. egeplast UK supplied heat-shrink protection sleeves for the 355 mm SLA butt-weld joints along with SLA aluminium foil tape to protect the barrier integrity of the joints. To speed up the installation process and to ensure a successful execution of the welds, the pipes were delivered with factory-prepared pipe ends. Steven Jones, Managing Director of egeplast UK, concluded: “Thanks to good planning, coordination and cooperation between all parties involved, we were able to complete this complex project within a tight schedule and without any serious complications. For this, we owe thanks both to our colleagues from the UK as well as to the team in Greven.”