 |
| The 1LC was used to connect the vertical loops to the headers. |
In the spring of 2011, McElroy hired local contractors Environmental Loop Services and K&M Shillingford to upgrade one of the oldest buildings on the McElroy campus. Tthe Fulton Assembly Plant, is a 70,000-square-foot space suffering from years of being repurposed for different manufacturing needs and lacking a major upgrade to become climate-controlled.
While McElroy’s Fulton Assembly Plant is the latest to get a geothermal upgrade, the company hasn’t shied away from putting green systems into other buildings over the years – including a section of the corporate office building and a training center more than 30 years ago.
 |
| One of the main staples for constructing the headers on-site was the Pit Bull® 14. |
Another benefit of being in this center for geothermal expertise is access to contractors like K&M Shillingford, one of the first to offer geothermal installations to consumers in the United States.
With years of experience, both on the McElroy campus and off, K&M Shillingford and their sister company, Environmental Loop Services, were presented three significant challenges when they installed a vertical loop system for the Fulton Assembly Plant.
Beginning in April, Environmental Loop Services began drilling the more than 80 vertical wells required in three different well fields. Each well was drilled to 400 feet. The major challenge with the wells was getting everything complete and ready by a June 30th deadline. While some of the drilling was in grassy, landscaped areas, the majority of the wells had to be created by drilling and excavating space for headers in a parking lot that remained open to accommodate the McElroy workforce at the Fulton Assembly Plant.
The June deadline was set so that the factory would be climate-controlled before the hottest part of the Oklahoma summer.
“The timeframe was a major challenge,” said Tom Nowak, sales manager for K&M Shillingford. “A part of the challenge was drilling and installing pipe while the facilities are up and running. Another challenge was working above the craneway.”
While tackling a tight timeline isn't unusual, the contractor was required to save floor space by floating the AAON HVAC units in the air at the facility. This served several purposes.
 |
| Environmental Loop Services had a variety of Sidewinders™ on the job, including these three jaw-clamp style machines. |
“We also wanted the opportunity to put high-density polyethylene (HDPE) piping in all the way to the units. This is one of very few jobs the contractor has done where they’ve used polyethylene pipe inside a building.”
In addition to floating units in the rafters of the building and putting in the geothermal system by July, contractor personnel felt the pressure of fusing pipe perfectly in the backyard of the company referred to as the “pipe fusion experts.”
“One of the biggest challenges on this job was doing the fusion work,” said Nowak. “With the pipe fusion experts watching and observing, the fusions had to be flawless.”
While workers used a Pit Bull® 26 machine capable of butt fusing 6-inch pipe inside the building, the vertical wells and headers outside required several smaller fusion machines.
After drilling the 400-foot vertical wells to house the Centennial Plastics 1-inch EarthLoops™ piping, the U-bend end of the vertical loop is put into the hole first. Once the pipe is installed in the hole, the loose ends coming out of the ground were fused to the headers using McElroy’s new 1LC and the Mini-Mc™. The 1LC is designed for geothermal work, where a fusion technician might be required to work from above the piping in close quarters. The 1LC and Mini-Mc both fuse pipes from 1/2-inch CTS to 1-inch IPS sizes.
Approximately one-third of McElroy’s employees work in the Fulton Assembly facility. The building enjoyed temperatures nearly 30 to 35 degrees cooler than the 100-degree temperatures outside.
Sincerely,
Tyler Henning
P.S. – Do you have an interesting job site that you would like to share? McElroy is always looking for fusion job sites where HDPE is being used and fused to solve an infrastructure problem. Contact Tyler Henning, public relations specialist at (918) 831-9286 or by email at thenning@mcelroy.com
With McElroy’s Socket Tooling Kits, you can get a specific range of socket tooling equipment that fits your needs, instead of ordering each piece separately. McElroy has selectively chosen the proper heater adapters, ratchet sheers, chamfer tools/depth gauges, and cold ring tools for a complete kit. All the equipment conveniently fits in a specially designed tool box and tray to keep all of your socket tooling in one place.
McElroy’s Socket Tooling will fuse ½” CTS to 4” IPS (16mm to 125mm) pipe and is perfect for installing fittings. Select the heater, heater adapter, depth gauge/chamfer tool, and a cold ring tool for your application.
For 2” and larger fittings, a socket fitting holder is required. Smaller size socket heater adapters (½” CTS to 1” IPS) are fastened to the sides of the heater. The larger size socket heater adapters (1¼” to 4” IPS), or saddle fusion heater adapters, are fastened to the heater face.
The Alliance for PE Pipe’s Roadshow and Expo is an outstanding opportunity to learn more about HDPE piping systems. Always staffed with industry experts, the roadshows are a great opportunity to bring questions with you and learn about the most responsible pipe infrastructure going in the ground today. Complimentary breakfast and lunch is available, as well as entry into an iPad giveaway pending a completed RSVP online at www.pepipe.org and attendance.
Shows are being planned for October in Syracuse and Albany, as well as Jacksonville, Florida. To get the latest information on the Road Shows, visit www.pepipe.org.
The most comprehensive research available about HDPE pipe for municipal potable water systems is now available. The Jana Laboratories final report, “HDPE Pipe: The Sustainable Solution for Potable Water Systems” is available online. In the report, you can:
- Read about the successes in Palo Alto, California and other municipalities
- Discover more about completely leak-free systems
- Review information about advancements in material properties
- Learn about findings from more than 300 exhumed field samples
- Consider input from approximately 200 municipalities surveyed
- Locate published data, reporting and technical guidelines.
 |
 |
If you have photos from a jobsite, we'd love to see them! Yours may be chosen for the next issue of McElroy Connections. Simply email your photos to Tyler Henning, at thenning@mcelroy.com.
 |
#HDPE pipe is used in a cattle feeder. Is there anything #HDPEpiping isn't good for? http://ow.ly/6wMBQ Sep 16th |
 |
McElroy Manufacturing Website Update Sep 6th |
|
Great PDF Field Report from ISCO - Large diameter #HDPE pipe used in Guatemala Hydroelectric Project. http://ow.ly/6mwEx Sep 6th |
|
Great article on how #HDD continues to thrive. Even better when HDD is paired with #HDPE! http://ow.ly/6j3fh Sep 1st |
|
Over the next few months we will have have some exciting new announcements. Our monthly newsletter is one of the best ways to stay informed. You can subscribe at: http://www.mcelroy.com/fusion/ newsletter/subscribe.htm Aug 31st |
|
We're happy to announce that our first shipment has arrived in São Paulo, Brasil! #HDPE http://ow.ly/i/gv7u Aug 30th |
|
Check out this month's issue @ucononline. I spy McElroy machines on pages 43 and 59 of the August issue! Aug 26th |
|
A rather large swagelining project in Australia. The power and flexibility of #HDPE! http://ow.ly/6btl3 Aug 24th |
|
Another great information resource is WaterOnline.com. You can visit the McElroy section of the site at: http://www.wateronline.com/eco mmcenters/mcelroy.html Aug 23rd |
|
As someone who is involved with McElroy equipment, we would like to invite you to join our opinion group. Surveys vary in topic and frequency. We promise that it will not be time consuming to participate and those who do, can receive direct benefits for their efforts. Use the link to register or post any questions you have here. http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22C935YEH7S Aug 22nd |
|
Another cool use for #HDPE piping - fish habitats! Some young students put some of these habitats together recently:http://ow.ly/69jqp Aug 22nd |
|
A nice article about HDPE pipe from the latest issue of Trenchless Technology Magazine. http://www.trenchlessonline.com/index/webapp-stories-action?id=1852 Aug 16th |
|
Sewage spill in Florida bayou after #PVC main fails. #HDPE is considered as a solution. http://ow.ly/64JL7 Aug 16th |
Alliance for PE Pipe WaterWorld Water Tech Online North American Society of Trenchless Technology Plastics Pipe Institute
