Trenchless Technology has become a preferred method over traditional dig-up repair. More owners are realizing the benefits that trenchless rehabilitation methods have over dig and replace methods.
What is Trenchless Technology?
Trenchless technology is innovative underground construction methods that, either entirely or partially, eliminate the need for excavations on the street or surface level. Trenchless technology employs cutting-edge equipment and techniques to rehabilitate or replace subsurface infrastructure without disrupting the ongoing activities on the surface.
The primary purpose of this technology is to keep surface-level activities, such as businesses, traffic, residential areas, and people from being harmed or interrupted. It also does not destroy or disrupt roads, curbs, sidewalks, driveways, landscaping, or trees. To avoid excavating the surface, trenchless technology uses techniques such as cured-in-place pipe, pipe bursting, pipe reaming, micro tunneling, and spray-applied techniques to conduct the required installation and repair or replacement operations.
What are the Advantages of Trenchless Technology?
Although Trenchless Technology methods cannot repair everything, advances in technology have expanded the capabilities of this industry. Underground projects such as repairing, expanding, and upsizing sewer lines now employ the newer trenchless method over the old excavating approach. This article will take you through 4 main advantages of trenchless technology in order to explain why it is preferable.
Advantages of Trenchless Technology
Fewer Disruptions
When repairing sewer lines using conventional open-cut excavation methods, the excavation site has to be isolated, which may require blocking off entire roads and rerouting the traffic along different routes. This significantly disrupts day-to-day activities and leads to traffic jams, people running late for work, or delayed medical and other emergency assistance.
However, with trenchless technology little or no excavation takes place. This means fewer street closures and traffic disruption resulting in a disruption-free operation. This is often considered a minimally invasive construction method.
Reduced Environmental Impact
Open-cut excavation processes can have a negative impact on the surrounding environment. Loss of trees, shrubs, and flowers is common when heavy equipment is used to dig up sewers. The large-scale digging and heavy-duty machinery used can heavily damage and degrade the excavation site when adding or repairing new sewer lines.
Going the trenchless way eliminates the necessity of such devastating excavation, which means that the trenchless technology has a much lesser impact on the environment. No plants or trees have to be removed, which results in less environmental impact.
More Cost-Effective
Subsurface projects such as repairing or upsizing sewer lines using trenchless technology can often be more cost-effective than conventional methods. Firstly, trenchless methods may eliminate the need for relocating existing utilities. Secondly, conventional excavating requires the need to refill the trenches and reconstruct roads or pathways – something that does not have to be done with trenchless technology. Lastly, the trenchless way may require less machinery and labor, which can considerably cut down the cost of the process. Considering all of the factors above, we can see why trenchless technology is more cost-effective than open-cut excavation.
Safer
Trench cave-ins, mud, water, and overhead hazards are some of the problems that workers would normally have to worry about when excavating. However, with trenchless technology, the process of sub-surface repairing and replacement becomes much safer as the dangers associated with digging trenches are nonexistent.
Conclusion
Keeping in mind the advantages of trenchless technology, it’s clear that these methods can provide a better option than open-cut excavation and, therefore, is the future of subsurface construction and renovation projects. To know more about the applications of trenchless technology and how it can help you, consult the experts at Back Municipal Consulting. They offer trenchless technology training and also have experience writing ASTM standards that govern this technology.
If you’re looking for more information on all things trenchless technology, visit us at backmunicipalconsulting.com. We offer free educational sessions NASSCO certified training to further your career or get started with trenchless technology.
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