Plastic Pipe Industry Awards Announced

IRVING, TEXAS -- The Plastics Pipe Institute, Inc. (PPI) announced the winners of its Projects and Members of the Year program during its annual membership meeting, which was held virtually on May 12, 2021.

For more than ten years, the association’s members have selected a Project of the Year and a Member of the Year for each of the five PPI divisions: Building & Construction, Drainage, Energy Piping Systems, Municipal & Industrial and Power & Communications. PPI is the major North American trade association representing the plastic pipe industry.

The association said that this year it received the most submissions, and that it was also the first year in a decade of the program’s existence to have multiple project winners in two divisions.

Winning projects included the Florida installation of one of the largest horizontal directional drilling (HDD) of 54-inch diameter pipe, a new stormwater drainage system for a new soccer complex in Haiti plus the underground installation of electrical conduit to protect hot air balloons. Two PPI company members shared the honors for a new pedestrian bridge in Utah, while two others were recognized for two separate oil field projects.

PPI winning projects include:

PPI BCD Project of the Year Winner, Texas Military Base, Training Center 5 and 6 Project
The large multi-storied facilities at this base required large diameter pipe and fittings to move water effectively throughout the campus. Installation locations included crawl spaces, underground, and in riser locations. The project’s piping ranged in size from 4 through 18 inches and consisted of both SDR 11 and SDR 17 wall thicknesses. More than 6,000 feet of Asahitec™ PP-RCT pipe was used for hot and cold potable water, non-potable and chilled water plus HVAC heating water and HVAC condenser water.

Asahitec PP-RCT was used instead of carbon steel pipe because polypropylene piping (PP-RCT in this case) provides long term performance and maintenance advantages over steel pipe. Due to its light weight, ease-of-maneuverability, and faster and safer welding methods than steel pipe, installing PP-RCT provided several benefits to the installers.

PPI Municipal & Industrial Division Project of the Year, City of Fort Lauderdale’s Redundant Force Main Project, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
PPI Member Companies: JM Eagle, Los Angeles, Calif. and AGRU America, Inc., Georgetown, S.C.
Construction of a new 7.5-mile redundant forced main sewer required two contractors using horizontal directional drilling (HDD) to install the 54-inch diameter HDPE pipe. Murphy Pipeline Contractors, Inc. (Jacksonville, FL) ran from the north while David Mancini and Sons (Pompano Beach, FL) came from the south. Both companies are contractor members of the Municipal Advisory Board, an independent, non-commercial adviser to the Municipal & Industrial Division of the PPI.

This $65 million wastewater transmission line from the G.T. Lohmeyer Wastewater Treatment Plant to the wastewater lift station was completed in February 2021, months before it was expected. The project was undertaken due to the city’s existing 50-year-old force main, which has experienced frequent breaks during the past several years. It will enable the city to repair the existing force main.

PPI Drainage Division Project of the Year, Project Living Hope Soccer Complex – Camp Marie, Haiti
PPI Member Company: Pacific Corrugated Pipe Company, Hubbard, OR
Project Living Hope, a charitable organization, has a vision to create a social center in rural Haiti supporting underprivileged youth in the area. This includes creating a massive sports facility with soccer fields, a housing complex, a vocational center and a large community hall. After the drainage requirements were identified for the soccer field, it was determined that the low material and installation costs associated with corrugated high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe provided the best solution compared to other piping alternatives, and allowed the Project Living Hope to complete the soccer field drainage improvements in its entirety, rather than in phases.

Some 1,500 linear feet of Pacific Corrugated HDPE pipe was used in diameters ranging from six to 36 inches. Without this drainage system, the fields of Camp Marie would have standing water following storms that would take a week of clear weather to dry. Now, rainwater is effectively diverted, leaving the soccer fields clear and available for daily use.

PPI members also recognized a Member of the Year in each divisions for outstanding support and contributions to the association and the industry, including:

PPI Building & Construction Division Member of the Year, Rick Stock, Uponor Inc., Apple Valley, MN.
PPI Drainage Division Member of the Year, Joe Babcanec, P.E. Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc., Hilliard, OH.
PPI Municipal & Industrial Division Member of the Year, Barb Donaldson, WL Plastics, Ft. Worth, TX.

PPI is the major trade association representing the plastic pipe industry. For a full list of awarded projects and people, more information can be found at www.plasticpipe.org.