April 20, 2015

RSRL Harwell first approached Steve Vick International about the use of their technology to tie down the contamination after initial investigations by Aurora Health Physics revealed higher levels of contamination than anticipated inside the storage tubes. SVI were asked to provide a proposal for the project which was to be one of the most technically challenging foaming operations SVI had...

In a project to renew a 24” cast water main in Plymouth for South West Water, Brent Ltd used a pipe pushing machine manufactured by Steve Vick International to insert, in one push, half a kilometre of 400mm diameter PE pipe weighing a total of 22.5 tonnes. The operation was part of an ongoing 2.5 km mains renewal contract. South West Water and Brent have formed an integrated partnership to...

Steve Vick International was recently called in to solve a problem of rat infestation at a householder’s property in Cardiff. The large property had recently been renovated and extended resulting in the need for a new drainage system. The new kitchen in the home was built partly over a previous downstairs cloakroom where the vertical WC drain had not been blocked off.  After the owners had...

Farmoor supplies water to areas including Oxford and Swindon and the contractors were given only a 12 hour window to complete the project. Damar sub-contracted the cutting operation to Steve Vick International Ltd who used the N600 Keel cutter supplied by South+West Pipe Tools. The hydraulically powered machine automatically tracks around the circumference of the pipe wall whilst the tungsten...

Live Gas Mains Insertion is a routine operation for Wales & West Utilities. In this project, they used Steve Vick International’s newly improved 125 pneumatic pushing machine with a 5” ram. The operation involved inserting 125mm PE into a 6” main in Wells, Somerset. WWU said that they found the pushing machine as powerful as a hydraulic machine and pushed the 94 metres of pipe in...

As part of the push to ensure all gas replacement works are completed before the Olympics arrive in London, National Grid Gas called upon Steve Vick International’s Special Contracts Team to carry out a Live Gas Main Stub End Abandonment on a 12” low pressure cast iron main, in the heart of Piccadilly. Where a new 315mm PE pipe had been laid, the existing 12” cast iron main needed to be...

  Southern Gas Networks (part of Scotia Gas Networks) has recently renewed a 3” steel gas riser in a four storey block of 45 flats in Southwark, London, using the Live Riser Transfer technique. This enabled the company to replace the service without turning off the supply, thus avoiding inconvenience for the consumer and reducing costs at the same time. When compared with using...

The technique was introduced into the UK in the 1980s by British Gas and has been pioneered and enhanced over three decades by Steve Vick International. Essentially, the major advantage of keeping the old cast iron main live whilst inserting it with a new PE pipe, is that customers are off gas for much shorter periods and, being a trenchless technology, it results in far less disruption to road...

Morrison Utility Services, who hold the joint Western Gas Alliance contract alongside Amec, were recently contracted by Wales & West Utilities to carry out 3.6 kilometres of gas mains renewal in Cheltenham. The company decided to use the Live Mains Insertion (LMI) method of replacing the cast iron mains by inserting new PE pipe whilst the gas still flowed, thus minimising disruption and...

Replacing large diameter cast iron gas mains in city centres always poses enormous challenges for utility companies. Maintaining supply to businesses and homes, limiting the number and extent of excavations and keeping traffic and pedestrian disruption to a minimum are top of the list. One hundred and twenty five metres is not a particularly long project for live gas mains insertion, but when...

  Over 2000 metres of large diameter gas mains have been renewed using the new Steve Vick Pipe Handler in Attercliffe Road, a busy two way street in Sheffield. During the development stages with National Grid, they used the Live Mains Insertion technique to insert the pipe, ensuring customers and business owners experience minimal disruption during the operation. The Pipe Handler...

Our Special Contract Service team was in Stockholm at the end of April 2005 to flow stop a 24” low pressure gas main in the very heart of the city, outside the government buildings. A two kilometre section of the main, which was cast iron at one end and steel at the other, was to be abandoned. The team installed two double-skin FOAMBAGS™ at each end of the section. Once the expanding foam...