A field instrumentation system was successfully installed to monitor the performance of a
high-density polyethylene (HDPE) sliplined 83-year old 910-mm diameter cast iron water main in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
This monitoring system included various sensors to measure strains in both pipe walls, the internal hydrostatic
pressure, the in-situ soil moisture contents and the temperature profiles in the soil backfill.
The work included the insertion of sections of the HDPE pipe with sensors and cables
attached during the rehabilitation of the entire 1.5-km water line. The installation therefore
required the collaborative effort of the research team, the owner, the consultant and the
general contractor for the rehabilitation project. About 50% of the installed strain gauges and
about 95% of the installed thermocouples survived the installation process. The preliminary
results based on the first four months of data show that the measured strain ranges in the HDPE
pipe were within the ranges predicted using the short- and long-term modulus of elasticity of
the HDPE material. The results have confirmed the assumption that bonding at the interfaces
between the HDPE and the grout and between the grout and the cast iron pipe was negligible.
The results also show that the granular C backfill material above the pipe had little
insulation capacity and that the soil around the water main is likely to freeze over the winter. Includes 9 references, tables, figures.
| Edition : | Vol. - No. |
| File Size : | 1
file
, 1.9 MB |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 21 |
| Published : | 01/01/2000 |
