Japanese Minister awards Spiral-Wound rehabilitation project in Ansbach, Germany

The project in Ansbach was now awarded with the 6th "Junkan no Michi Wastewater System Prize" by the Japanese Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. SEKISUI SPR Europe, subsidiary of SEKISUI CHEMICAL Co., Ltd. contributes with its Spiral-Wound pipe rehabilitation method for the restoration of sewer networks in European cities.

SPR™ – an award-winning product

The award giving ceremony of the “Junkan no Michi Wastewater System Prize” was held on September 10, 2013. Naofumi Negishi, President of SEKISUI CHEMICAL CO., LTD. (hereinafter called Sekisui Chemical) has received the 6th Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) Prize. Sekisui Chemical has been promoting globally the Spiral-Wound rehabilitation product SPR™ which has been developed in collaboration with Tokyo Metropolitan Sewerage Service Corporation and Adachi Construction & Industry Co., Ltd.

The Spiral-Wound product SPR™ has already proven itself in reducing the burden on the lives of residents, the environment and historical buildings worldwide. Besides the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Prize for the recently completed rehabilitation project in Ansbach, executed by SEKISUI SPR Europe, it was the second time, SPR™ was awarded this year. In March 2013, Sekisui Chemical achieved the 59th Okochi Memorial Prize for the Development and Practical Application of the Automatic Spiral pipeline Forming and Pipeline Rehabilitation Method.

SPR™ – perfect solution for a challenging rehabilitation project

The city of Ansbach, located in Southern Germany, is a region which has numerous buildings of historical value. In addition, it is also an area with a high concentration of residential houses, meaning that neither traditional methods of excavation nor conventional trenchless methods could be used for the rehabilitation of an aged sewer from 1936 made of bricks.

SEKISUI SPR Europe proposed SPR™ to the customer AWEAN. The Spiral-Wound product based on the world’s first, unique concept of “composite with existing pipe” to make effective use of the structural strength remaining in the existing pipe. It does not require stopping water flow during installation. Therefore it dramatically cuts construction time, costs and the impact on the residents, society and environment in surrounding areas, compared to methods that require excavation of roads. Followings are the advantages of SPR™, and some of them were the critical reasons AWEAN decides to choose this Spiral-Wound technology for their pipeline renewal:

1. It is a trenchless method allowing the protection of historical buildings unlike the excavation method
2. Materials can be carried into the pipeline through manholes allowing minimization of the above-ground workspace
3. The method can be used for out of round shape including complex egg-shaped pipe made of bricks
4. The method negotiates bends
5. The method allows work to be carried out with continued use of the pipeline in the residential area
6. The method minimizes the generation of waste in order to protect the historical and cultural district

The rehabilitation process with SPR™

After inspection and cleaning of the 220 m section of the sewer that needed to be rehabilitated, the winding machine was placed through a manhole into the host pipe. The winding machine wound the PVC profile to the requested egg-shaped form and interlocked the PVC profile strips to form a new watertight pipe. The intentional annular space between the old and the new pipe, which was filled with high-strength grout after the winding process, gives the new pipe its required static characteristic. The rehabilitation project was successfully completed in July 2013 after a three-month construction period.

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