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A few reasons why HDPE is the #1 Choice for pipes


Concrete pipe has been around for a very long time and the technology really hasn’t advance with the changing times of modern science and technology. Concrete pipe suppliers and manufacturers spend a lot of time, money and energy on negative campaigns against high density polyethylene (HDPE) or “plastic” pipe for a reason … and the reason is that HDPE is a better product for many technical reasons. Here are a few reasons to spec HDPE instead of concrete pipe;

1. Design Service Life

While concrete pipe is highly susceptible to corrosion and abrasion, HDPE is NOT! HDPE pipe is the most corrosion and abrasion resistant material on the market today. Concrete will break down in time, HDPE will not! If you truly want value for your money, there is no longer lasting product on the market than HDPE.

2. Ease of Installation

Concrete comes in lengths up to 2.44 m. HDPE comes in lengths up to 15 m, which reduces installation time dramatically. When you are looking at the overall cost of a project you should consider this; the price of the pipe plus the cost of the installation are part of the equation. The fact that twisted and damaged gaskets are not a factor with HDPE pipe, you can install it faster, maintain grade easier, bury it and forget it. The cost of repairing twisted or damaged gaskets can really add up, adding huge costs to the contractor. Another example of ease of installation is the fact that HDPE pipe weighs approximately 1/10th as much as concrete. If you are installing a 2.44 m section of 3 m diameter concrete pipe, you would need a crane to move the sections into place. When installing 3 m diameter HDPE, you can use lengths up to 13 m and place them with an ordinary excavator. This not only saves time but money too!

3. Durability

When comparing concrete to HDPE consider the following;

·        HDPE is unaffected by road salt, freeze/thaw cycles and other chemicals that attack and weaken concrete;

·        HDPE will last indefinitely;(in most environments)

·        Concrete breaks if accidentally dropped, HDPE won’t.

4. Hydraulic Efficiency

A pipes alignment and shape, long term, depend on the compactive efforts and backfill material used. Concrete suppliers and manufacturers talk about the mass and rigidity being “critical factors” in the hydraulic efficiency of a pipe system. When comparing hydraulic efficiency smooth walled HDPE pipe has been measured to have a Manning’s ‘n’ value of 0.009 while concrete has a Manning’s ‘n’ value of 0.014. This means that HDPE operates at over 62% better hydraulic efficiency than concrete pipe. The benefit of this is that smaller pipes may be used to achieve the desired flow rates which result in major cost savings on material and installation.

Plain and Simple Facts

  1. Pipe to pipe the cost is relatively the same between concrete and HDPE!
  2. HDPE is much faster and easier to install because the pipe is lighter and it is available in longer lengths!
  3. HDPE is the most corrosion and abrasion resistant product on the market!
  4. HDPE pipe will never add costs to your project for repairing gaskets or accidentally breaking sections of pipe on the jobsite!
  5. HDPE pipe saves you time and money!
 

There are numerous technical reasons why high density polyethylene is a technically superior product to concrete. If you are interested in obtaining more information, please contact us.