Static Calculation for Buried Conduit Pipes and Pipe Jacking—German DWA Standards A 127 and A 161

For high safety and quality in construction and operation of buried conduit pipes and pipe jacking, it is necessary to carry out static calculations and proof for stability and serviceability under consideration of specific technical conditions. In this paper, firstly the importance of static calculations for buried conduit pipes and pipe jacking is shown with the help of some practical examples. Then, the basic principle and calculation methods in both of the current German standards A 127 and A 161 are described for flexible and bending resistant conduit pipes and pipe jacking by using different materials. The fundamentals and the German experience for static proof, e.g. safety standards and concept, material parameters in short- and long-term state, soil-mechanical parameters, soil and traffic loads, water pressures as well as driving forces in pipe jacking under straight and curving movement conditions, are illustrated. Both of the German standards have been entered for example in the list of European Code EN 1295 and well accepted in the international world for the static calculation of buried conduit pipes and pipe jacking. At the end of the contribution, the program system "Easypipe" is introduced. This software has been developed upon A 127 and A 161, accepted by German union for water management, sewage water and waste (DWA), and widely used in Europe. For the user in the practical piping engineering, it could be a very helpful tool in the evaluation of the stability and serviceability of buried conduit pipes and pipe jacking.