Plowing with GPS

The SLM® 3.0 protective jacket pipes were supplied in the dimensions OD 110 mm, OD 180 mm and OD 225 mm – up to OD 180 mm as coiled goods, in OD 225 mm as bar material. Before plow laying, the pipes had to be laid out along the route and welded using E-sleeves. The SLM® 3.0 drinking water pipes for the “Choustnik – Bohemian Chips” project, which were delivered as bar material, were connected to each other using the heating element butt welding process. After this work step, the pipe ends were inserted into the insertion device of the plowing equipment. Using coordinates that were read from the planning documents and fed into the plow computer, the pipes could be installed with very high accuracy both in terms of position and height. This ensured that the correct position and a continuous gradient between the planned high points (vents) and low points (outlets) were maintained.

In addition, the current coordinates were documented every second, so that the actual position could ultimately be represented in terms of planning technology. This is an important component of the site survey and plan handover. Thanks to the coordinate-controlled ploughing, two pipe strings could also be laid next to each other at a precisely defined distance in several sections of the “Jizery Part A” project. A good comparison of the space requirements and the speed of Installation was provided by the sections that had to be implemented using conventional open construction. With open Installation, an average of approx. 50 m was achieved per day: the pipe trench was excavated, the pipe was laid in the trench, measured and finally backfilled and the surface restored. With the controlled ploughing method, an average of approx. 1,000 m could be laid and measured per day. The working width for ploughing was a maximum of 4 m – in contrast to at least 10 m for open Installation.