Olympic Rings for RIIO

Completed

Fossil Fuels: Oil Gas and Coal(Oil and Gas, Refining, transport and storage of oil and gas)

Applied Research and Development

PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS (Metallurgy and Materials)
ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering)

Not Cross-cutting

Project Contact
SGN

Network Innovation Allowance

Ofgem

01 September 2014

01 January 2017

30 months

£80,000

Technical Consultancy

South East

Network Innovation Allowance

Project Contact, SGN

The objectives of this project are to: Produce a conceptual detailed design solution to meet SGN and Industry standards. Conceptual detailed design of reinstatement process Off site field trials to prove conceptual design compatibility Technical review of impact of conceptual process across spectrum of road classifications Gap analysis On site field trials to prove process including testing and monitoring process Production of report detailing process and testing results. The success criteria for this project are to trial and test the method against the traditional methods currently used to compare its performance in terms of: Provide a safe, efficient and cost effective solution. Demonstrate the effectiveness of the technique versus existing excavationsDemonstrate the effect of multiple cores on carriageway integrityProvide test data to uphold conclusionsIncrease in productivity.

Scotia Gas Networks (SGN) is currently undertaking a programme of work to replace existing cast iron mains with new PE mains. This work is undertaken in tandem with conventional abandonment works which allows the metallic mains to be decommissioned. Both of these activities currently require large excavation works to be undertaken on the carriageway causing disruption to traffic flows for extended time periods. These excavations also impact on the environment with the disposal of excavated material and the import of either virgin or recycled backfill material. Under the previous IFI initiative, SGN undertook a project to evaluate Core &Vac technology to assist in minimizing excavation sizes when carrying out joint repairs on metallic mains. This project will look at extending the use of core and vac technology and techniques to allow larger excavations to be carried out and backfilled using multiple coring. The use of core and vac is currently limited due to the size restrictions and the tooling available to operate within the limited space of a core excavation (600mm diameter). This means a large number of operations still involve large, time consuming excavations ranging from 2 - 4 metres in length depending on pipeconfiguration and the associated delay in reinstatement. This project would develop a technique to allow the extension of core and vac technology to include multiple cores , thereby allowing the use of conventional tooling and equipment to operate in conjunction with the core and vac technology. The benefits of this system when compared with conventional drilling and bag off equipment are: Reduction in volume of excavationMinimise our works footprintQuickly reinstate the majority of the excavation worksReduces time both excavating and reinstatingReduces costs minimise excavation size and, where core and vac is used, cores can be used as final reinstatementNote : Project Documents may be available via the ENA Smarter Networks Portal using the Website link above

17/09/18