A contractor for a new housing estate in Harworth, Doncaster, were suddenly stopped in their tracks at the site in June 2017. They needed to connect a surface water gully into the street’s main pipeline. However, there was no lateral connection inlet available for them to connect to. Fixing this problem would normally be an expensive and time-consuming process of excavating around the main pipe, cutting away a section of the pipe and installing factory made junction.
After hearing about the problem the contractor had via the merchant supplying their products, Flexseal offered its services to investigate what solutions were available. The main pipe was a 300mm concrete pipe to which the contractor needed to connect a 150mm clay lateral pipe. Flexseal’s Unisaddle FA150U seemed to be a perfect solution for the job so it was sent to site on a next day delivery. The contractor in the meantime hired a core drill and rig from a local hire company.
Representatives from Flexseal’s Technical and Sales Management teams met the contractor on-site to explain and demonstrate how the product works. The Unisaddle along with the lateral pipe was installed within 20 minutes from start to finish. If using traditional methods of lateral connection, the process would be a lot more labour intensive and could take up-to half a day.
As the pipeline was a water company asset, the Unisaddle’s backing of a WRc approval was vital in demonstrating the products fitness for purpose.
The contractors saw the huge benefits of the product and has since committed to investigate using Flexseal saddles on both new and existing pipelines.
Added: September 2017 | CSR003
