Pipe Express
Pipe Express is an innovative semi-trenchless technology which makes it possible to construct pipelines more quickly. Pipe Express is also an environmentally friendly and economically beneficial construction method.
Pipe Express | How it works
Pipe Express is a new mechanised method for the near-surface installation of pipelines of up to 1,000 m in length and with diameters of 800-1,500 mm using the semi-trenchless construction method. A TBM loosens the soil which is then directly conveyed aboveground using a milling unit which is carried along. The pipeline is installed underground simultaneously.
Environment
As earthwork is minimised using this construction method and groundwater does not need to be lowered along the route, Pipe Express only has a marginal impact on the environment. To install pipelines, the soil is removed straightaway instead of being pushed aside. Pipe Express offers great advantages, especially in projects where the groundwater level is only a few centimetres below the terrain's surface, e.g. in swampy terrain, or when nature protection is of particular importance.
Quick and economical beneficial
By using Pipe Express, Visser & Smit Hanab is convinced that it can construct a pipeline route more quickly and in an economically beneficial way. The advantage of this semi-trenchless construction method is a narrow strip of work; the space required is less than 9 m long. Moreover, considerably less equipment and staff are needed to build the pipeline, plus there is no dewatering required along the route either, all of which makes Pipe Express an environmentally friendly construction method.