Huge York-Peel feedermain spurs construction of hi-tech pressure pipe plant
By Jim Tully, Munro Concrete Products
Manufacture of steel cylinders for lined and embedded cylinder
pressure pipe.
Few know that Canadian and
Austrian engineering ingenuity
was behind one of the largest
watermain projects in the
Greater Toronto Area (GTA). In record
time, a new pressure pipe plant was
constructed in Barrie, Ontario, to supply
product to the $104-million York-
Peel Feedermain that will transport up
to 381 million litres of treated water
per day from Peel Region to neighbouring
York Region. The plant is the
largest pressure pipe
plant producing small
and large diameter
precast concrete pressure
pipe under one
roof in North America.
Immediately following
the award of
two separate contracts
for the York-Peel
Feedermain to Dufferin
Construction Company
in July 2003, engineers
at Munro Concrete
Products began a fasttrack
design and construction
project to
meet the scheduling
demands of the
Dufferin design-build
team assembled to construct
the feedermain.
Already recognized as
a pioneer in fully robotic
concrete pipe production, Munro
teamed with its equipment supplier,
Schlüsselbauer Technology GmbH &
Co. KG of Gaspoltshofen, Austria, to
build Canada’s premier automated concrete
pressure pipe plant. Since design
of pressure pipe plants had not changed
much over the past 30 years, Munro saw
this project as a one-time opportunity to
advance the technology for producing
pressure pipe.
To meet a sharp rise in demand for
treated water in the GTA, Peel and
York Region negotiated a unique
arrangement to build infrastructure to
provide water for York. Until the feedermain
was constructed, York’s major
urban areas received drinking water
from The City of Toronto, Lake
Simcoe (north of Toronto), and wells.
Peel draws its water from Lake Ontario
and treats it lakeside before it is
pumped to reservoirs.
The $72 million design-build contract
for York Region was the first portion
of the project that was awarded.
This section of the 1800 mm diameter
(72-inch) feedermain and associated
road works, running 13 kilometres
from the York-Peel boundary at
Highway 50 to the Maple Reservoir in
Vaughan, is one of several projects that
compromise the Water and Sewer
York-Peel Agreement signed in
February 2002. When the entire system
is complete, additional water conveyance
of 40 ML per day will be
delivered to York Region.
The $32 million design-build contract
for the Region of Peel is the second
portion of the project that was
awarded. This 8-kilometre section
involves the design and construction of
a 2100 mm (84-inch) diameter concrete
pressure pipe along Airport Road
in Brampton from Queen Street to the
new Airport Road Pumping Station
and Reservoir and an 1800 mm diameter
feedermain from the Airport Road
Pumping station along Castlemore
Road to the Peel-York boundary at
Highway 50, where it joins up with the
York Region contract.
Dufferin Construction Company of
Oakville is overseeing the design-build
of the 21-kilometre transmission line
and associated road and civil engineering
works. Consultants include Earth
Tech Canada, Marshall Macklin
Monaghan, URS Canada and John
Emery Geotechnical
Engineering Ltd. Six
10-member crews
worked simultaneously
on the project at
peak construction
periods, installing pipe
along various sections
of the two contracts.
The feedermain
design portion of the
project is jointly managed
by Joe Sframeli
of Marshall Macklin
Monaghan and John
Bourrie of Earth Tech
Canada. Larry Lorusso
is the senior project
manager from Dufferin
Construction Company, a division of
St. Lawrence Cement Inc.
While Dufferin’s
consultants were preparing the necessary
engineering plans and reports for
construction of the Peel and York contracts,
Munro’s engineers met with
counterparts at Ellis Don and
Schlüsselbauer to design the plant
around a custom-built semi-robotic
production facility. In little more than
45 days, Munro and its partners had
designed the plant and decided on the
equipment suppliers. By August 18,
2003, the necessary approvals had
been secured and construction of the
new plant was underway. Five months
later on January 23, 2004, the first
pressure pipe was produced. By
February 19, 2004, the plant was in
full production.
Hydrostatic testing of steel cylinders.
The 8,550 square metres (92,000
square foot) plant features a
Schlüsselbauer core casting station
and pipe tipper. The pipe tipper is
unique as traditional pressure pipe
plants use cranes to adjust the pipe
from a vertical to a horizontal aspect.
The Austrian firm acted as agent to
secure additional process machines
that interconnect with its technology.
These included a wire prestressing
machine, hydrostatic testing equipment
for the steel cylinders which
make the pipe water tight, spiral
welder, and equipment to form the
steel cylinders.
The moulds for the core casting station
are also Schlüsselbauer products
capable of producing pipe sizes from
400 mm to 3000 mm inside diameter,
with a standard length of 6,096 mm
(20 feet). The large 1800 mm and 2100
mm diameter moulds are the first
moulds used in the new casting station.
Hydraulically-activated mould jackets
expand with the push of a button and
the core collapses, so that the precast
pressure pipe casting can be lifted and
moved to a curing chamber. The
moulds can be reused every 6 hours,
producing 4 units of pipe in 24 hours
from a single mould.
The plant is designed to produce
both lined and embedded cylinder
pipe. Pressure pipe, 1500 mm diameter
and smaller, is lined cylinder pipe,
and pipe 1650 mm diameter and larger
is embedded. Embedded and lined
cylinder pipe is produced to specification
American Water Works
Association (AWWA) C301
Prestressed Concrete Pressure Pipe,
Steel Cylinder Type, for Water and
Other Liquids.
With embedded
cylinder pressure
pipe, concrete is
poured on the
inside and outside
of the cylinder
surface. Once
cured, the concrete
pipe surface
is wrapped with
prestressed wire
that is then coated
with mortar.
Lined cylinder
pipe has concrete
poured on the
inside of the steel
cylinder which is
then wrapped with prestressed wire
directly on the surface of the steel
cylinder. The wire and cylinder are
then coated with mortar to protect the
prestressed wire.
AWWA C301 requires the freshlycast
core to cure for 12 hours. A serial
number is stamped on the end ring of
every pipe to track it through production
and installation. After curing, the
pipe is rotated to a horizontal position
and then wrapped with the prestressed
wire. After coating with mortar, the
pipe is once again placed in a curing
chamber for 12 hours.
The plant has been designed on the
back of experience with the fully
robotic Schlüsselbauer Exact 2500
gravity pipe plant also located at
Munro. The versatility of the new pressure
pipe plant can accommodate the
production of smaller diameter lined
cylinder pipe using the packerhead
method. The plant is now capable of
producing 400 mm diameter to 3000
mm diameter pressure pipe to serve a
Canadian and NE/ Midwest USA marketplace.
In addition to the precision product
being produced from the Munro facility,
the local economy is also getting a
boost from the construction and maintenance
of the facility itself, and the
many plant jobs that were created by
the construction of the feedermain.
Jim Tully, P.Eng., is with Munro Concrete
Products, Barrie, Ontario.
Contact email: jim.tully@munroconcrete.com.
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