Flexible Pipe Manufacturers Admit Mistakes: How to Move Forward?
For years, the concrete pipe industry has educated owners and engineers regarding the risks of specifying HDPE pipe. However, the statements in this document constitute actual acknowledgments by the manufacturers themselves of the critical weaknesses of conventional HDPE pipe! Fortunately, many in the industry have heeded the concrete pipe industry’s warnings regarding the use of HDPE pipe. As a result, owners and engineers are increasing restrictions in average daily traffic (ADT) count, restricting allowable applications for flexible pipe, limiting applications where combustibility or melt properties could jeopardize the traveling public, requiring more stringent installations, reducing allowable fill heights, and enforcing post-installation inspection testing with laser video and mandrels.