Geotextiles are protecting pipelines

Geosynthetics | February 2010

Steel transmission pipelines installed in mountainous regions often face significant risks during their construction and service life. One of the biggest challenges is to protect the pipe and its external coatings against mechanical damage.

Currently, the pipeline industry uses a wide range of supplementary mechanical protection systems, including nonwoven geotextiles. The materials for this type of application are typically a polypropylene fiber-based roll that is installed around the steel pipe in the field, usually before the lowering-in phase.

The nonwoven geotextiles, available in different styles and thicknesses, are usually specified at 4–14mm for this type of pipeline installation. These materials protect the pipe during lowering-in, backfilling, and the pipeline’s service life. The quality of the protection, as always, is highly dependent on the skills of the field installation team.

Source: Pipelines International, December 2009

Comments

Comments are the opinion of individual posters and do not reflect the views of Geosynthetics or Industrial Fabrics Association International.

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  Gholamhosein

  Feb 22, 2011
  5:22 am CST

  To protect the buried pipes

  My research results proves that the buried pipelines can be protected strongly under heavy vertical cyclic loadings by using Non-Woven Geotextiles.