Lessons Learned
Lessons Learned from Other Industries: Bonding Company Takes $800,000 Hit on HDPE Pipe Failure
By Edward J. DeMarco, Jr.
In the spring of 2009, city employees in Tyndall, South Dakota, noticed that a stretch of asphalt roadway was developing unusual cracks and settlement. The city soon discovered that a significant portion of a 4,000-foot high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipeline installation completed a little over two years earlier had severely deflected—as much as 25% in some sections—from its original shape.
Parking Lot Cave-In: Collapsed Culvert's History
Parking Lot Cave-In: Collapsed Culvert's History
By Andrea Williams
Meridian, Miss. As work continues to determine exactly what caused the culvert to collapse in the IHOP parking lot, Newscenter 11 has learned that this is not the first time for a drainage pipe at that site to cause some concerns.
Two days after the parking lot cave-in at the newly opened IHOP in Meridian the collapsed pipe, which city officials say caused it, is in clear view. That crumpled pipe, had actually replaced a much smaller one that had been there since the 1940's or 50's. The one that's now crushed was installed 14 years ago after some major flooding.
Why Use Concrete Pipe?
Why Use Concrete Pipe?
Concrete is the world’s most commonly used building material. In its simplest form, concrete is a mixture of paste and aggregates. The material (paste) used to manufacture concrete pipe is composed principally of Portland cement and water, and is used to coat the surface of the fine and coarse aggregates. The Portland cement is a closely controlled chemical combination of calcium, silicon, aluminum, iron, and small amounts of other compounds, to which gypsum is added in the final grinding process to regulate the setting time of the concrete.