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| June Issue Post Date 6/20/05 | www.mcelroy.com | |
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Note From The Editor
Gajeske is speaking of a 26,000 foot HDPE pilot project for Houston ’s water department. His company, Gajeske, Inc. is supplying the pipe, fittings and McElroy fusion equipment for the job as well as providing the fusion operator. The company is pulling the plow for the City of Houston and hopefully the hard work will pay off. Gajeske, Inc., is one of many polyethylene pipe distributors located in the state of Texas who is poised for the impending water infrastructure boon. They feel, along with many in the country including The Plastic Pipe Institute (PPI), that Texas is the tipping point needed to bring polyethylene into the water industry in a big way. Florida , Washington , California , Colorado , Minnesota and several other states around the country are in a similar situation and to some degree, a little further along the evolutionary scale of pipeline technology than Texas . Houston ’s pilot project may be the catalyst that swings the state and helps the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) decide HDPE is the way of the future. Already, a task group from PPI has been meeting with TCEQ to get HDPE on the approved materials specification list. And if that sentence doesn’t have enough acronyms for you – TCEQ used to be named TNRCC and regulates everything in Texas from SSO’s (sanitary sewer overflows), APP (Air Polution Prevention) EPA Superfund Cleanups, DWWA (Drinking Water & Water Availability) to recycling and rules for infrastructure construction and rehab. The goal for the PPI task group is to get TCEQ to simply allow HDPE into municipal specs without them having to become involved with the engineering. Currently, if a city wants to use HDPE for water, they must first get the project approved through TCEQ. The recent high number of requests to use the pipe is what has opened dialogue between TCEQ and PPI. PPI is trying to educate TCEQ on the operating pressures of HDPE. Many times TCEQ mandates thicker walled pipe than the water system design would require. The engineering overkill drives up cost of the pipeline, which gobbles up tax funds and drives up rates. Gajeske, Inc., stands to gain a lot of business if the measure passes but the state of Texas stands to gain even more. Gajeske has been a driving force in educating and training decision makers about HDPE and “Senior” has been involved with every aspect of the operation. That’s how it’s done in old school.Drew L. Wilson; Editor (918) 831-9286 Productivity Tip This month’s productivity tip comes from Larry Buchanan Tech Services Specialist for McElroy. “A small basic mistake I see all over the world is that fusion operators choose to clean the pipe ends after the facing procedure. It is impossible to clean the ends of the pipe any better than the blades on the facer.” “When working with coiled pipe, know that you will be dealing with pipe ends that are not straight. Whether or not a LineTamer is used; there will be a curve near the ends of the pipe that has not been straightened out. When joining coiled pipe, making an s-curve between pipe coils can relieve tension. Position the pipe ends in the fusion machine to form the s-curve and make the fusion by the recommended pressure and time of the manufacturer.McElroy In The News Case Studies Links North American Society for Trenchless Technology American Water Works Association American Society of Civil Engineers Foundation Newsletter Links Water World - Receive news from WaterWorld, Industrial Waterworld and Water & Wastewater International. Water Tech Online North American Society of Trenchless Technology Insider and Pipeline Newsletter If you would like a link to your newsletter posted in McElroy Connections, contact Drew L. Wilson at 918-831-9286 or McElroy Connections welcomes your feedback, story ideas, tips, or anything else related to PE Pipe and Pipe fusion. Please email your comments and story ideas to: FOR NEW SUBSCRIPTIONS: To subscribe, visit http://www.mcelroy.com/fusion/forms/newsletter.htm McElroy Connections is published by McElroy Manufacturing Inc. The information contained within each issue is meant as a service to our customers, distributors, and those involved with Polyethylene Pipe applications.
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A growing number of cities are deciding to lean on polyethylene pipe for the next 100 or so years. It is a decision perceived by some to be an unproven venture while others claim there is no better pipe in the world to deal with the troubles plaguing U.S. water infrastructure. Almost everyone agrees that major infrastructure rehabilitation is needed but the largest problem is lack of funding and not the choice of piping material. 
