Pipe Bumpers (BBS and BBS/CCS Bumper Systems)
As the United States becomes more and more saturated with existing pipelines, and as securing right of ways becomes more and more difficult; it seems the industry is seeing surprising growth in the area of bundled directional drilling projects. If you're unfamiliar with this technology, it is exactly the same as your standard road bore or directional drill; but you pull more than one pipeline through the bore hole at the same time. We've been involved in projects where two lines were pulled through the same hole; and we've been involved with projects where as many as 11 pipelines per pulled through the bore hole at the same time! Hard to believe? Yes. Incredible to see? Absolutely (sorry, no photos were allowed on that job site). One problem to tackle there: how do you prevent the pipelines from damaging one another as they are pulled through the hole? Also, how do you insure that you don't have pipe resting on pipe through out the life of the line? The answer is fairly simple: BBS bumper systems.
Seems simple, right? It is. Kind of. You see our bumpers are held in place by materials that are specifically designed to survive the enormous shear and peel forces that are associated with a road bore. Picture a bumper wedged between three different pipelines being pulled through a mountain of mud. That bumper is going to act like a sail - seeing tremendous forces. That is why it is so important to use a 'road bore rated' product to hold that bumper in place. How do we know ours works? We've seen before and after photos after a thorough evaluation: Pipe Bumper Case History
It is important, when selecting a system, that you select a system where all components are approved for use by the manufacturer as road bore approved. Some systems utilize components that are not road bore approved. What happens to those bumpers when they are being dragged beneath a road, beneath the ship channel, or beneath a reservoir of some kind? Nobody knows! Does it make sense to use a system with components that the product manufacturer would say NO WAY! You absolutely cannot use our product for that application and expect it to work! No, it doesn't make any sense at all -- yet there are still people who use it. I can't figure it out!
For help with your next bundled road bore project, give me a call. Let's have a chat. Let us help figure out how you're going to keep those pipelines from damaging one another so that you can spend your time and attention on one of the other hundreds of details you'll need to make decisions on.
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