North American Society of Trenchless Technology

          I recently received an email from The Virginia Tech Student Chapter of the North American Society of Trenchless Technology (NASTT) through the BC list serve.  The email was to inform students that the NASTT would be joining a local Contractor to observe a live Pipe Rehabilitation.

          As I read this email I began to think that this would be a pretty cool event to attend however I was unable to due to classes.  Pipe rehabilitation's are something I am very familiar with seeing as my father is a Civil Engineer.  I often visit some of his job sites with him when I am home and enjoy hearing about what the projects involve and what is going on.  Although I was unable to visit this specific Pipe rehabilitation, I was curious what exactly the North American Society of Trenchless Technology was.  My guess before looking up what it was online today, was that they were a organization that preformed Civil Engineering work such as installing sanitary systems without first digging trenches but instead tunneling.

          Upon further investigation I was able to find an ad on youtube which helped to explain what exactly Trenchless Technology does.

          One use for trenchless technology is to help renovate old underground pipe systems such as water supply lines which have hard water build up from minerals in them.  As seen in the video link posted above, a resin filled bladder is then fed down the pipe.  Once the bladder is fed all the way down, the bladder is inflated to 18 psi for a short period of time over which the resin is able to harden.  Once hardened, a water tight, hollow cylinder is formed inside the old degraded pipe line.
          The reason this type of pipe line renovation is so practical and useful is because lines can be repaired without ever having to be unearthed.  All that is needed is a clear entry point to the pipeline form one end, allowing for minimal disruption, especially in commercial buildings where shutting down part of the building could cause a loss in revenue.

          I am still unclear about some of the other uses for trenchless technology and will continue to update this blog post on what I am learning.