BorSafe? pipe innovation prioritises environment and efficiency

Jul 29, 2010

Pioneering pipe material BorSafe™ HE3490-LS-H from Borealis has played an important role in preserving the tranquillity and natural beauty of Föhr, Germany’s second largest North Sea Island and a popular and picturesque holiday destination. Föhr’s Water Supply Association chose RAUPROTECT BorSafe HE3490-LSH-based pipes from REHAU to create a high quality water supply with a long working life for Föhr’s population, while ensuring minimal environmental disturbance during installation. The 8km-long cross-island pipeline connects Wyk on the south east coast with Utersum on the south west coast, and also serves the hamlets located between the two towns.

BorSafe HE3490-LSH is a latest generation PE100 pipe material from Borealis, a leading provider of chemical and innovative plastics solutions, specifically designed for pipes subject to elevated stresses and a high level risk of external damage from harsh laying conditions.

The PE100-RC (Resistant to Crack) material is particularly suited to the aggressive conditions associated with modern, trenchless laying techniques that minimise above-ground disruption. The lack of soft, sandy bedding in directional drilling, pipe bursting and ploughing-in techniques makes robust pipe material a definite requirement. Classified MRS 10.0, BorSafe HE3490-LS-H is a product of Borealis’ bimodal Borstar® process which delivers advanced performance and processing benefits to pipe material. BorSafe HE3490-LS-H offers low notch sensitivity and provides superior resistance to point loading and slow crack growth (SCG). It avoids the potential for tears in the pipe even when point loads caused by rocks occur. Because the material offers outstanding durability it is capable of delivering a service life exceeding 100 years.

In the case of Föhr, BorSafe HE3490-LS-H was the ideal solution for withstanding the tough installation demands of no-dig directional drilling, chosen as the most effective, fast and efficient method for ensuring the least possible impact on the island’s scenic landscape. This no-dig process eliminates the need for trenches thereby keeping surface work, digging, soil and pipe transportation, and laying to an absolute minimum. It also provides for faster, more economical pipe-laying.

In addition, the BorSafe based pipes provide the long-term resistance to wear and tear necessary in Föhr’s harsh and varied terrain. Ground conditions on Föhr range from silt layers to hard and highly-compacted sub soils. The subterranean landscape is pitted with rock and boulder obstacles from the last Ice Age. "The BorSafe LS-H based RAUPROTECT of PE 100-RC was key to being able to carry out the installation by horizontal drilling," says Friedrich Meier, engineering contractor for Föhr’s Wyk to Utersum water pipeline project. "This not only allowed the work to be undertaken with the minimum of interference with nature and the visible landscape, it also enabled it to be completed within two months; certainly more quickly than would have been the case with traditional trench-laid methods."


Contact:
Borealis AG
Wagramerstrasse 17-19
1220 Vienna, Austria
PH.: +43-1-22400-0
E-Mail: info@borealisgroup.com
Internet: www.borealisgroup.com

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