Impact of Backfill Material on the Rerounding of Deflected Corrugated High-Density Polyethylene Drainage Pipes
Publication: Journal of Pipeline Systems Engineering and Practice
Volume 15, Issue 1
Abstract
Rerounding is a technique for remediating excess deflection in thermoplastic pipe. A pneumatic device vibrates along the vertical axis and pushes against the inside crown and invert to restore the original pipe shape and redistribute the surrounding backfill. A systematic evaluation of the method was justified because rerounding is routinely used by contractors to remediate deflected thermoplastic pipes, and it has not been investigated outside of a few previous reports. Three 900-mm and two 450-mm corrugated high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipes were installed in various bedding and backfill materials. Test pipes were intentionally installed with substantial deflection (10% or more) and then rerounded. The pipe conditions were measured and monitored by collecting profiles, measuring vertical deflections, and monitoring soil pressure, soil stiffness, backfill characteristics, and pipe corrugation depth before and after rerounding. The data from the deflection, soil stiffness, corrugation, and soil pressure monitoring confirmed the following: (1) during rerounding, soil particles migrated and soil pressure was redistributed; fine material from the crown and springline moved down toward the haunch area, at least in the well-graded aggregate backfill; (2) it is difficult to successfully reduce deflection in corrugated HDPE pipes in well-graded aggregate backfill; (3) installing the pipes with excess deflection proved a significant challenge, as all the pipes required much effort to reach sufficient deflection. It proved necessary to create a device to hold the pipe in a deflected state during backfilling; (4) rerounding successfully reduces deflections for pipes in sand backfill; and (5) test pipes backfilled with Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) Type-3 backfill were easy to reround, but a change in environmental conditions and/or dynamic loading may create a change in the stress path leading to excessive deflection and reversal of the effects of rerounding.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge the people who ensured successful completion of this project, starting with the ODOT Research Section, which sponsored the research. Jeff Syar, Matt Cozzoli, and Kyle Brandon of ODOT’s Office of Hydraulics and Hans Gucker of ODOT’s Office of Construction served as the subject matter experts, providing guidance on the technical aspects of the project. Vicky Fout of the ODOT Research Section supervised the project. Ahmed Soliman assisted with processing the data. ORITE technician Josh Jordan handled many of the details of the experiments and otherwise provided invaluable help throughout the project. Williams Testing of Harrod, Ohio, performed the rerounding operations, and Shaw and Holter, Inc. of Lancaster, Ohio, acted as the contractor for installing and exhuming the pipe installations.
References
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ODOT (Ohio DOT). 2019. Construction and material specifications. Columbus, OH: ODOT.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Pipeline Systems Engineering and Practice
Volume 15 • Issue 1 • February 2024
Copyright
© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Dec 27, 2022
Accepted: Aug 18, 2023
Published online: Nov 21, 2023
Published in print: Feb 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Apr 21, 2024
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