Non-Conventional Pipe Laying Techniques: Quantitative Modeling of Total Cost of Installation [PE]

When considering the total cost of a pipe installation project today, the pipes themselves only represent a minor part, as low as 10% in some cases. This certainly highlights the importance to strive to reduce the cost of pipe installation. Compared to the traditional pipe laying technique in an open trench with protective sand layer, simply backfilling with the soil as-dug (sand bed-free method) already presents the obvious advantage of avoiding the costly transport of sand, reducing the typical total cost of installation by 20% and limiting the emissions of CO2 linked to transportation. Non conventional pipe laying techniques such as slip lining, pipe bursting or horizontal directional drilling go even further in reducing the installation cost by being virtually 100% trenchless. This paper presents a quantitative model for the project costs incurred through the main pipe laying techniques currently in use. This model has been established by the Vlerick Management School (Belgium) through interviews of key players all along the value chain. In addition to the direct project costs, the model also considers the social costs that can be avoided by reducing the nuisances linked to installation both in space and time. Finally, the additional constraints that these advanced techniques put on the pipe material are also addressed through discussion of the latest technical specifications, such as the Publicly Available Specifications (PAS 1075).