The smart city is ‘trenchless’

With more than half of the world’s population living in cities today, the 21^st century is the century of urbanisation. In Europe alone, even more than 70 percent of its residents live in urban areas. Considering these figures, it is quite obvious that maintenance and development of the complex urban underground supply network is quite challenging in respect of preservation and cost reduction for private utilities and particularly for the tax-funded public sector.

Innovative solutions for sustainable urban infrastructure management

Innovative trenchless technologies, also known as NODIG technologies, can be applied for highly complex and challenging pipe installation and rehabilitation projects even in most congested areas, making them perfectly suitable for sustainably maintaining and developing complex urban underground infrastructures.

The beneficial effetcs compared to traditional open construction methods are:

• significantly reduced construction times
• minimisation of of costly excavation and reinstatement
• no destruction of valuable surfaces
• avoidance of traffic jams and diversions
• low CO₂ , noise and fine dust emissions
• approved according to the latest technical standards
• up to 40 percent cost savings

In addition to these fundamental economic and ecological benefits, permanent technical improvements by innovative manufacturers such as TRACTO-TECHNIK GmbH from German guarantee that the equipment keeps pace with the ever increasing urban requirements.

Smart solutions for infrastructure linkage and development

New installation and rehabilitation of mains and distribution pipes using trenchless technology has been accepted for a long time. Further developments meanwhile allow for installing property service connections completely underground up into the customer’s basement or service room. Using the GRUNDOMAT soil displacement hammer, the complete range of sectors–from sewage to FTTX connections –can be installed and renewed without trenches. Gas, water, sewage, district heating, electricity and telecoms/data are connected into single buildings, housing blocks or commercial and industrial plants. Waterproof wall ducts for gas and water pipes allow trenchless installation from the basement of the building without additional assembly pits in front of the outer wall.

The cost pressure in civil engineering was the mainspring for developing another TT innovation: the award-winning GRUNDOPIT K which can be used for installing, repairing and renewing property service connections from a keyhole access with a maximum diameter of only 650 mm. This minimally invasive technology allows for sustainable reinstatement of the road surface while hardly disturbing the flowing traffic.  After completion of the work, the previously drilled out circular core bore is inserted back into place without any subsequent stress cracks or damage to the road surface. Additionally the keyhole technology can substantially contribute to the development of the e-mobility infrastructure. The keyhole technology can be used both as the assembly pit for the e-charging station and/or as the starting bore hole for laying the connection cables, either from the charging station into the keyhole, or from out of the keyhole to the charging station or an inductive charging system.

Smart solutions for pipe line installation

The fast-paced development of the steerable drilling technique allows the trenchless installation projects which would have been unthinkable a few years ago. The GRUNDODRILL rigs truly drive this development due to their versatility and profitability. Parallel installations up to 500 m long are possible, with crossings beneath rivers and water bodies being completed frequently. The steering technology even enables bores underneath industrial complexes. One of the highlights in the HDD machine family is the GRUNDODRILL 18ACS which works highly efficiently in alternating soils as well as in the hardest rock, offering distinctively reduced operating costs and construction times compared to similar drilling rigs. With the challenge of developing the urban underground network the new GRUNDODRILL 11XP was designed. Its slim construction it is ideal for applications in inner-city areas.

Smart solutions for sustainable preservation of resources

The amount of supply and disposal pipelines in need of repair and/or replacement is constantly increasing worldwide. Especially with regards to the problems of water loss and/or inadequate pipe capacity with ageing urban supply and sewer networks, pipe bursting with GRUNDOBURST is a favourable method for the trenchless replacement of pipes having typical damages such as cracks, incrustation, root infestation, misalignment, positional displacement, split sleeves, etc. Re-instatement costs due to ground settlement, groundwater interferences and road damage are almost omitted. Moreover, the network capacity can be adapted as new pipes of smaller, equal or even larger diameter of up to 1 to 2 nominal sizes can be installed. The GRUNDOBURST rigs are universally applicable for pipe renewal but  can also be applied for pipe repair and renovation methods such as relining, TIP or pipe reduction.

Smart trenchless technologies by TRACTO-TECHNIK

Trenchless technologies by TRACTO-TECHNIK stand for first-class quality and high reliability. All NODIG systems are designed for numerous products and applications, a long service life, low wear and high productivity. Because our claim is to offer complex and flexible solutions to enable our customers sustainable and economic success. This includes an extensive selection of compatible accessories, as well as comprehensive project consulting and an excellent customer pre- and after sales service being a number one priority. Five TRACTO-TECHNIK manufacturing plants in Germany as well as sister companies in Switzerland, Great Britain, France, Morocco, Australia and the US plus a tight international sales & service partners‘ network ensure quick support and accessibility of services in the shortest of time all over the world.

TRACTO-TECHNIK GmbH & Co. KG

Tel. (+49) 2723 808-0

Fax (+49) 2723 / 808-180

E-Mail: info@tracto-technik.de

Internet: www.tracto-technik.com