Uponor U+ makes directional drilling invisible

U+ makes directional drilling invisible in Shoreham.

The picturesque estuary at Shoreham-by-Sea hides a secret.

Beneath it lies almost half a kilometre of Uponor's 400mm diameter SDR11 PE80 gas pipe, freshly directionally drilled, and completely invisible to passers-by.

The point in the estuary at which the gas pipe needed to be laid was directly adjacent to a new waterside apartment development under construction, making space very tight for welding pipe lengths.

In fact, the longest pipe section (108 metres) was welded at Uponor's Newton Aycliffe site before being trialled in-house, recut and transported to Shoreham, and along with a second length, rewelded on site with all its waterside challenges.

Uponor's specialist U+ team were called in for the welding by National Grid Transco contractor Morrison, who carried out the directional drilling between 6pm on a Friday evening and 1pm on Saturday lunchtime.

The unusual project was a good example of how the U+ service is being appreciated by many different customers.

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