Behavior of a Composite Plastic Structured-Wall Pipe under Varied Field Installation Conditions

Abstract

AbstractThe performance of a structured-walled, hybrid plastic-steel pipe, installed under standard and substandard conditions, was monitored in field tests. Sections of steel-reinforced, high-density polyethylene resin pipe, with inner diameter of 1.02 m and outer diameter of 1.12 m were installed at two test sites. In the first, the standard installation site, the pipe section was placed in a 2.0-m-deep, 2.1-m-wide trench, following subgrade compaction, on a compacted sand bedding layer. The trench was backfilled with layers of compacted sand and crushed stone to form a base to 0.8 m above the crown. In the second site, neither trench base nor bedding and fill materials were compacted. The trench consisted of a central section 2 m wide, and end sections 1.5 m wide; one-half of the length was backfilled with in situ, clay clods and the other with sand, both overlain by a layer of compacted base course to 0.5 m above the crown. Pipe deformations, monitored during installation and trafficking, and dynamic ...