DIRAX After Directional Drill

DIRAX "After Photo"

      We sell thousands upon thousands of DIRAX shrink sleeves every single year.  Most of those are installed on pipelines that will be involved with road bores and directional drills.  As you probably know, those can be some of the most challenging conditions for any pipeline coating. 

     Adding to the difficulty is the fact that very often, the pipe coating is never seen again once it goes into the bore hole.  Did it survive?  Was it damaged?  Is the CP going to kick in on day one?  Sure, there will be some evaluation of the pipe done by pigging the line; but is that going to show a scratch in the coating?  Is that going to show a single holiday in the epoxy?  No, it isn't. 

     On occasion, we are fortunate enough to get see a situation where a section of pipe with a DIRAX installed is pulled all the way through the bore hole.  This could be for many different reasons, but in this particular case, the reason was that this was one of the most difficult, rock laden bore holes that I've ever heard of.  These were the toughest conditions.

     So what did the DIRAX look like?  See for yourself:

DIRAX Installed and pulled through a 400 foot bore

     In this case, the pipe was pulled through until the DIRAX sleeve was visible.  They then poured a bit of water and wiped away much of the mud from the DIRAX coating system.  The DIRAX came through completely unscathed.  No holidays.  No damage.  Nothing at all (you can still see a little bit of mud that wasn't washed away here and there).  It looks amazing doesn't it?  There is a reason that DIRAX is generally viewed as the best and most reliable road bore/directional drilling coating in the world.