Record breaking Uponor pipe burst in Aberystwyth

Uponor able to get pipe deliveries rapidly to site, for both the overland requirement and for the subsequent damaged pipeline.

When a glass reinforced plastic (GRP) sewage rising main burst in the popular seaside resort of Aberystwyth, it was not only inconvenient - it happened on the busiest weekend of the year, August Bank Holiday - but it was also imperative to minimise any spillage to the nearby beaches.

Welsh Water urgently contacted its Capital Alliance partner Morrison Construction, whose tier one contractor K'nex Pipelines immediately installed a temporary overland rider to contain the existing flow, using 500 metres of Uponor's 450mm black polyethylene (PE) pipe.

The 10-year-old main had corroded, and Welsh Water decided to renew the entire 1000-metre length.

Uponor was able to get pipe deliveries rapidly to site, for both the overland requirement and for the subsequent damaged pipeline.

The K'nex team then burst the existing pipeline with a kilometre of Uponor's 500mm black PE, and as director Wayne Hughes described, "we broke all records in pipebursting technology, putting 300 metres of pipe in during a single shift".

Hughes went on to say: "I only made the phone call to Uponor's Nigel Tonge on the Thursday night, and I was unloading over 1500 metres of pipe on site 450 miles from Uponor on the following Monday afternoon." K'nex completed the job within 14 days.

In the event, two of Aberystwyth's beaches were closed for a short period, but the speed of the installation meant that tourism was soon able to get back to normal.

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