VALLEY FORGE, PA, June 1, 2010 -- The Village of Baldwin, Ill., recently made the decision to replace a failing 40-year-old clay tile sewer main with a new 10-inch gravity sewer, featuring 600 feet of CertainTeed® Certa-Lok™ C-900/RJ restrained-joint PVC pipe.
"We specified the Certa-Lok C-900/RJ restrained-joint PVC pipe mainly for its rigidity and ability to withstand stretching that may occur from the pulling force of the directional drilling rig," says Travis J. Liefer, staff engineer for Rhutasel and Associates. "We needed a product that would be able to resist any minor deflections that may be in the actual bore itself. The Certa-Lok pipe met those needs."
Certa-Lok C900/RJ is a performance-proven PVC product, ideal for both water and wastewater applications. Its innovative joining system, which utilizes a high-strength spline to connect pipe lengths, reliably holds the pipe together during installation and pressurization, while elastomeric O-rings provide a dependable pressure seal. More than 35 million feet of Certa-Lok pipe has been successfully installed with trenchless methods since 1991.
The Village of Baldwin hired contractor Korte-Luitjohan Contractors Inc., of Highland, Ill., to install the gravity sewer main and build a new sewage lift station. The contractor used a Vermeer directional drill and a DCI Digitrak F2 Drill-Head Locator with target steering crew to make a 600-foot bore. The bore began at a depth of 14 feet and ended at a depth of 17 feet, meeting grade requirements all the way. The installation took eight days, and the installed pipe was then camera-tested for sags and deflections and passed with flying colors.
"Certa-Lok provides outstanding leak resistance and holds up to the rigors of pipe pullback in directional drilling installations," says Steve Gross, director of R&D and technical services for CertainTeed's Pipe business. "The pipe is easily assembled, without the need for time-consuming and expensive joint fusion. And, most importantly, Certa-Lok requires a much thinner wall than HDPE pipe for an equivalent pressure rating, which significantly cuts material, drilling and operating costs."
Thanks to the use directional drilling, traffic suffered only minor, short-term disruption, and there was no disruption to the railroad, Illinois Highway 154 or businesses in the area. In addition, grading, seeding and roadway repairs were minimized by avoiding open trench installation. The Certa-Lok C900/RJ pipe also helped the project run more smoothly.
"The rigidity of the Certa-Lok pipe eliminated the need for a casing under the railroad and highway areas," says Kevin Korte, directional bore superintendent for Korte-Luitjohan Contractors. "We also found it easy to handle and install. It performed very well for us during the installation."
For more information on Certa-Lok restrained-joint PVC pipe products, call 800-CT4-PIPE.
About Korte-Luitjohan Contractors Inc.
Korte & Luitjohan Contractors Inc., established in 1958, is a family owned, full-service general contractor serving Central and Southern Illinois. Since 1984, Korte & Luitjohan Contractors' portfolio has included water and wastewater treatment facilities, county incarceration centers, production and warehouse facilities, restaurants, YMCAs, schools, a museum, office buildings, medical and dental offices, hospitals, corporate headquarters, churches and power plants.
About Rhutasel and Associates Inc.
Rhutasel and Associates Inc. is a multi-disciplinary consulting engineering and land surveying professional services firm. The firm serves a wide array of clients, including municipal, county, state, and federal government agencies; industrial and manufacturing companies; architects and other consulting engineering firms; and residential, commercial and industrial land developers.
About CertainTeed
Through the responsible development of innovative and sustainable building products, CertainTeed has helped shape the building products industry for more than 100 years. Founded in 1904 as General Roofing Manufacturing Company, the firm's slogan "Quality Made Certain, Satisfaction Guaranteed," quickly inspired the name CertainTeed. Today, CertainTeed® is North America's leading brand of exterior and interior building products, including roofing, siding, windows, fence, decking, railing, trim, foundations, pipe, insulation, gypsum, ceilings and access covers.
A subsidiary of Saint-Gobain, the world's largest building products company, CertainTeed and its affiliates have more than 6,000 employees and more than 65 manufacturing facilities throughout the United States and Canada. In 2009 and 2010, CertainTeed, which is headquartered in Valley Forge, Pa., was named ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a national award that recognizes environmentally responsible corporations. The group had total sales of approximately $3 billion in 2009.
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