# Pipe Bursting



## smellslike$tome (Jan 22, 2006)

Who is using pipe bursting equipment? Who makes it? Do you like it? What will it and won't it do? Anybody using it for 4" ductile iron sewer pipe? Anybody using it for galvanized water service replacement?


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## mdshunk (Mar 13, 2005)

They use it all the time around here for water line replacement, and I've borrowed the cable type for bursting conduit from a sympathetic plumbing contractor. Hammerhead Mole seems to be what I see, mostly.


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## Putty Truck (Oct 6, 2007)

There's a local contractor who specializes in it and will sub for 1500. He does seem to get sued alot and has had 4 diffferent licenses in as many years, so I don't know.


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## smellslike$tome (Jan 22, 2006)

Putty Truck said:


> There's a local contractor who specializes in it and will sub for 1500. He does seem to get sued alot and has had 4 diffferent licenses in as many years, so I don't know.


Yikes! Sued for what?


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## A Good Plumber (Jan 7, 2008)

I've done 4 jobs in the past year. 

One was under an historic building at Stanford University. This job required a special approval by the County for alternate material installation. Mainly because the installation was inside a building structure and at that time HDPE was not a code approved material for use in a building.

One of the other jobs was a replacement of 60' of 2" cast iron that we burst 3" HDPE in place of and increased the lateral to the 4" main. That was a cool job. First time I had seen a larger pipe replace the smaller existing.

Pipe bursting around here is fairly common, especially when the hardscape is too costly to replace.

I've checked in to lots of different manufactures of pipe bursting equipment, but have only used the one made by Tric. Most are very simular in the way they operate, this just happens to be the one that was made available to me.


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## A Good Plumber (Jan 7, 2008)

Coincidently we are doing a 40' sewer replacement tomorrow, from the home to to a curbside cleanout.


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## Putty Truck (Oct 6, 2007)

smellslike$tome said:


> Yikes! Sued for what?


Not sure, but its directly related to work and he ain't talking.


A Good Plumber said:


> I've done 4 jobs in the past year.
> 
> ...One of the other jobs was a replacement of 60' of 2" cast iron that we burst 3" HDPE in place of and increased the lateral to the 4" main. That was a cool job. First time I had seen a larger pipe replace the smaller existing.
> 
> ....


Maybe its different soil down there, but up here you run the risk of big rocks near or on the pipe that would ruin a pipe burster's day. I mean big....like its hard for me to lift big.

Why would you install a c.o. at the street? Bad lat?


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## KillerToiletSpider (May 27, 2007)

Putty Truck said:


> Why would you install a c.o. at the street? Bad lat?


Back in the day when I did service work all the time, towns that had homes with deep lots and large setbacks to the house would require a cleanout at the house and at the tie in to the city main, since there was over a hundred feet from the house to the street connection.


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## A Good Plumber (Jan 7, 2008)

The cleanout at the property line near the curb is required in this area by the Sanitation District. They are responsible for sewer from that cleanout and will come out at no additional cost to the ho and clear any stoppages. 

Some older homes don't have a cleanout at the curbside property line and they have to pay any costs, related to a stoppage, even if the problem is beyond the property line.

Putty...Your right. Large rocks are a problem, so are footings, but the idea of being able to burst a new pipe, when the alternative is more expensive and the conditions allow, is pretty cool.


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## Ron The Plumber (Oct 10, 2006)

Cleanouts are required every 100' by my code, UPC Code, and that should be the same in CA, since there under UPC.


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## All Clear Sewer (Nov 8, 2006)

Pipe Bursting is a joke in my books. The rocks and roots are still there and a problem will be soon to come 
Dips and large valleys will still be there as most of the pipe bursting guy`s don't have the right equipment to correct em.


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## smellslike$tome (Jan 22, 2006)

All Clear Sewer said:


> Pipe Bursting is a joke in my books. The rocks and roots are still there and a problem will be soon to come
> Dips and large valleys will still be there as most of the pipe bursting guy`s don't have the right equipment to correct em.


This was a big concern for me with respect to replacement sewers. If the camera shows there is a belly in the pipe prior to replacement then I see nothing to eliminate the belly after it is replaced. I talked to one of the manufacturers and his solution (he is also a plumbing contractor) is to saturate the ground at the belly overnight with water:w00t:! He says when the ground gets wet then you oversize the bursting head for the affected area and the material will "often" fall down elliminating the belly. Sounds like horse hockey to me and he has obviously no experience with wet Alabama clay which a lot of times won't leave your shovel head with a jack hammer (a bit of hyperbole). However, I do see some usefulness for this equipment, primarily with respect to water services but also for sewer lines which have sufficient grades to eliminate any and all possibilities of bellies. 

I'd like to hear some more first hand experience.


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## All Clear Sewer (Nov 8, 2006)

The pipe is to soft and will flatten over time. It will also sag where you wet the ground. Think of it this way, If you can bend it like they do to pull it in to the trench, It`s to soft and will fail in time.

*Just Say "NO" to no dig!* 

On some things you just cant take the man and the tractor out of the picture.  Water lines are fine but sewers have to be on grade.


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## Putty Truck (Oct 6, 2007)

smellslike$tome said:


> This was a big concern for me with respect to replacement sewers. If the camera shows there is a belly in the pipe prior to replacement then I see nothing to eliminate the belly after it is replaced. I talked to one of the manufacturers and his solution (he is also a plumbing contractor) is to saturate the ground at the belly overnight with water:w00t:! He says when the ground gets wet then you oversize the bursting head for the affected area and the material will "often" fall down elliminating the belly. Sounds like horse hockey to me and he has obviously no experience with wet Alabama clay which a lot of times won't leave your shovel head with a jack hammer (a bit of hyperbole). However, I do see some usefulness for this equipment, primarily with respect to water services but also for sewer lines which have sufficient grades to eliminate any and all possibilities of bellies.
> 
> I'd like to hear some more first hand experience.


It does sound like b.s., for sure.

There's a plumber in the next valley who dug up a alley to replace part of a business' sewer, right? They dug it up, replace the broken section and backfilled, etc. Two days later, the sewer backed up again! They didn't check the remaining sewer while they were down in the pit and it was collapsed, too.

Well, the customer was a lawyer and insisted that he shouldn't be responsible for re-digging and re-repairing the alley....valid point. He's also well connected in the small community.

The plumber called a burster in and they finished the job using the existing hole. It saved them time and got the lawyer's office flowing again in short order.

I thought that was a good use of the technology, but how often does it happen....


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## All Clear Sewer (Nov 8, 2006)

You shouldn't be doing repairs with out a video inspection as that is standard practice in our trade now days.


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