Life Cycle Cost / Durability
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Precast Concrete Pipe Durability Design methods for buried pipe are fairly well established, but durability, historically, has not been given proper consideration. Determining a project design life and the durability, or service life, of a pipe are considerations as significant as its hydraulic and structural functions. The definition of a durable pipe contains three variables that must be evaluated; required performance, pipe properties, and service conditions. |
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Service Life of Aluminized Type 2 Coated Steel Pipe: Predictions vs. Actual The pipe culverts in question are, at the time of this inspection, approximately 33 years old. This inspection consisted of visual observations of the inside (water side) of the culverts. Usually the water side of metal pipe experience earlier and greater wear than the soil side because of service conditions (including abrasion), oxygen exposure, and replenishment. The lowest water pH and resistivity for those sites as shown in the aforementioned report are 7.0 and 2609 respectively. Most are higher than 7.0 and 5000 and, therefore, not considered harsh conditions by traditional environmental criteria. It is apparent that abrasion is a factor and should be considered as such in any metal pipe durability assessment. |
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Bid Evaluation By Least Cost Analysis Selecting pipe materials best suited for service as a storm sewer, culvert, sanitary sewer, or small bridge replacement is of primary importance to the design engineer. On many projects when alternate materials are bid, selection is too often based on first cost, which may not be the most economical for the design life of the project. The most economical alternate must be determined through a least cost analysis. |
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Culvert Durability Study — Review and Implementation Resource # 02-902 The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) has published a 173-page report on corrosion and abrasion resistance of various types of pipe and pipe protection used for culverts in the State of Ohio. This article reviews the Ohio report and presents a procedure for evaluating service life and life cycle cost analysis to enable consideration of pipe durability as a design criterion. |
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Least Cost Analysis Resource # 07-130 Pipelines, culverts, and related drainage facilities are vital components of our infrastructure. Durability and economics should be given proper consideration for transportation or drainage projects, since lower initial costs do not always result in the most economic product. This brochure will guide the decision maker in using least cost analysis to identify the product with the lowest total cost, based on the present value of all initial and future costs. Member price: $25.00 / package of 25 Non-member price: $50.00 / package of 25 Order Now |
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HDPE Pipe Service Life – Facts and Conclusions (YSK Bulletin #142) October 2007 The Plastic Pipe Institute recently published information claiming that high density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe has a service life of 2,893 years at 5% deflection. This document explains the relevant facts regarding such a prediction. |
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County Counts on Concrete When Metal Pipes Fail (YSK Bulletin #114) November, 1997 DeKalb County – Thirty years ago, when DeKalb County, Georgia engineers included metal pipe in their stormwater sewer designs, they probably thought the system would last indefinitely. Unfortunately, the lines running throughout the county have begun to reach the end of their 30-year service lives, causing the current engineers to scramble to repair the crumbling piping. The corrugated metal pipes were used extensively during the region’s building boom of the 1960s but now are rusted and collapsing, according to a story published in the Decatur-DeKalb News Era. |
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Precast Concrete Culverts Shrug Off the Cold Resource # CPI-07 Recent research confirmed the excellent performance of precast concrete box culverts in cold climates where repeated freeze-thaw cycles subject the concrete structures to unusually harsh service conditions. Assessing the Frost Durability of Existing Dry Cast Pipe and Box Culverts was performed by Service d’Expertise en Materiaux inc. (SEM), a Canadian firm specializing in concrete research. |
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Durability: Too Important to Ignore CP Insights 1 One of the most critical but overlooked factors in project design is material durability, or service life. Even such fundamental considerations as a material’s ability to perform intended structural and hydraulic functions become irrelevant if a pipe cannot perform satisfactorily for an economically acceptable period. |