Steve Vick International continue supporting successful Live Mains Insertion projects in Holland

Dutch Gas Network Enexis has successfully completed the first Live Mains Insertion (LMI)project on their gas network. Steve Vick International (SVI) provided on-site support and all hardware to complete the job, together with Dutch partners, Van Voskuilen Woudenberg b.v (Van Voskuilen).

Live Mains Insertion

Live Mains Insertion (LMI) is a technique that was pioneered by company founder Steve Vick, 35 years ago. Since its development the technique has been adopted by all the UK gas distribution networks.

Live mains insertion is a cast iron mains replacement technique offering maximum operational flexibility. LMI is similar to standard sliplining but with one major difference; by using a special gland box developed by SVI, the old main is kept live throughout the insertion process and the new PE is gassed up to maintain supplies to customers.

Enexis Trial

Many successful Live Mains Insertion projects have taken place in The Netherlands over the past year, all with the support of both SVI and Van Voskuilen. The most recent was the Enexis project, which took place in Tilburg in the southern province of Noord-Brabant.

The day long replacement project involved inserting 160m of 110mm PE pipe into the existing 6” main, while all customers remained on gas. Enexis organised a mixture of on site and conference sessions during the day, giving key stakeholders the opportunity to discuss and explore the benefits of live inserting their network of ageing gas pipes.

Enexis plan to replace their entire network of cast iron mains by 2026; the newly inserted plastic infrastructure will provide a safe and reliable gas network for the future. Live Mains Insertion could provide the answer to replacing these pipes efficiently at the same time as reducing costs and disruption to customers.

Sybe bij de Leij, Innovator at Enexis said ‘Enexis have been using trenchless techniques more and more over the past 2 years. We need to keep the gas distribution system reliable and safe. Therefore we’re executing a large replacement program. Trenchless techniques are important tools to keep these replacements affordable.

Techniques like Live Mains Insertion (LMI) are important for Enexis to keep the costs of the replacement of old gas pipes low. This technique also prevents disturbance of our customers. Especially in urban areas LMI could be very valuable for Enexis.’