Secure Wastewater Pipeline for Industrial Development in East Brandenburg

The construction of a wastewater transport pipeline to discharge wastewater from a newly established industrial plant via a pumping station into an adjacent sewage treatment plant presented all parties involved with major challenges: Firstly, a federal highway had to be underpassed. Secondly, it was important to avoid damage to land in forest and residential areas. Thirdly, in one section, the pipeline crosses highly contaminated soil. For these three challenges, egeplast’s portfolio offered suitable product solutions.

Integrity checked after trenchless installation

The planned and newly constructed wastewater pressure pipeline, with a total length of approximately 6.5 km, ran for a distance of 160 m from the industrial site directly under the highway (BAB10 – eastern Berlin Ring). Instead of pressing a steel protection pipe, an egeplast SLM^® DCT pipe string OD 400 mm in SDR 11 was directly pulled in using the HDD method, thus creating the possibility to check the string for damage after installation. The positive result was recorded in the construction documentation.

Avoid damage to land

Further along, the pipeline ran for approximately 4 km through various forest and residential areas. The main objective here was to avoid damage to land and to minimize disruption to the infrastructure and public life in the region. Pulling lengths of at least 200 meters each helped to meet these requirements. To also minimize the risk of damage to the newly laid pipe, the egeplast protective casing pipe SLM^® 3.0, also in OD 400 mm dimension, was used.

Protection of the medium from contamination

Already in the preliminary planning phase, it became clear that the subsoil of one section contained highly contaminated soil. However, it was not possible to deviate from the planned route. Therefore, suitable precautions had to be taken for this approximately 500 m long section to protect the medium to be transported from any contamination. Without this protection, the biology in the sewage treatment plant would be severely endangered.

20-meter SLA^® Barrier Pipe sections with numerous fittings were used to consistently prevent permeation of pollutants and to avoid additional contamination of the wastewater to be transported. Also, a water crossing was necessary in a local area along the route. Due to the confined conditions on both banks of the water and deep sheet pile walls, installation using the HDD method was not possible. Instead, the crossing was carried out using an elaborate console construction, where the pipes were attached to the bridge in a steel protection pipe. For this, egeplast protective casing pipes SLM^® 3.0 as well as various special fittings such as tiered bends and other individual structural components were installed, which were planned, designed, and completely prefabricated in egeplast Systemtechnik, and thus only had to be integrated on site.

The construction project was completed in January 2021 after a construction period of eight months. Since then, the pipeline has been in trial operation. The previously pending approvals were also granted, and the plant was then ceremonially commissioned on March 22, 2022.