To refurbish or replace steel water pipelines, that is the question

✍ Scribed by S Creig-Smith

• Book ID: 104383624
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2001
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 170 KB
• Volume: 8
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1350-6307
• DOI: 10.1016/s1350-6307(99)00039-4

✦ Synopsis

Underground steel water pipelines that are not suitably coated and lined will corrode after a certain period of time, externally where the steel is in contact with the soil and internally where the steel is in contact with water. Such corrosion results in the thinning of the pipeline walls, reduction in the mechanical strength due to this thinning and ®nally possible failure of the pipeline. The integrity of older pipelines can be investigated by conducting a series of tests on the pipeline, both destructive and non-destructive, to determine the condition of coating and lining of the line pipe, the mechanical properties, and the extent of the thinning of the pipe walls. The results of these tests are used to determine whether refurbishment or replacement of the pipeline is the most viable option. This paper reports one such case study.