BBS Bumper for Bundled Bores - Included Components

 BBS Bumpers for Pipe Bundles - What is Included?

     Sometimes called Multi-Pipe Pullbacks; bundled road bores occur when more than one pipe is pulled through a bore hole.  It is a new tweak on a long time technology; the only difference is:  the bore hole is large enough to fit more than one pipeline.  In those cases, two things have to be considered:

1.   How do we make sure they pipelines don't damage one another during the pull through?  Pipes do jolt at times as they encounter rock, roots, etc.  You certainly don't want those lines that you are never going to see again experiencing damage to their corrosion coatings!
2.   How do we make sure we don't have pipelines resting upon one another?  We've supplied bumpers on bundles with as many as 11 pipelines involved.  Imagine 11 pipeline all resting on one another (picture a handful of uncooked spaghetti).  How is CP going to get to the line that is stuck in the middle of that bundle surrounded by a literal pipe wall keeping soil, water and current away from the line?  How about the "inside" sides of those pipes that are making up the "wall"?  You need to make sure there is space between those pipelines so that soil can ultimately fill those areas; creating a path for the CP. 

If you're curious - you can see a case study HERE.

     Now with nearly one hundred thousand bumpers installed and pulled through bore holes; we've yet to hear of a single bumper failure.  Yet to hear of a single bumper that disappeared during transit (the bumpers on the leading edge of the bundle always show up on the other end of the bore).   We've got a proven product, using our specially formulated bumper material --- and our proven system for making certain the bumper stays in place.  Many other folks have used this product successfully; so you can be confident you aren't taking any chances at all.

     So what comes in the system? See below:

Our specially formulated bumper material.  We are also working on new shapes to offer some advantages in the field.  Hopefully those evaluations will be completed in the months to come!

The epoxy bonding agent that gives fantastic shear and peel resistance to the bumper holding system.

The main component that holds the bumper in place with nowhere to go.  Tens of thousands installed with no reported failures.

Finally, the leading edge strip.  Probably not needed in all honesty, but this, installed on the leading edge of the system gives even more protection against some kind of peel back.

Pipeline Bumpers for Road Bore Bundle

 When it comes to road bores, there are various types of bumpers or casing spacers that can be used to provide support and protection to the bundled cables or conduits during the boring process. Here are a few commonly used options:

1. Casing Spacers: Casing spacers are designed to maintain the separation between carrier pipes or conduits during road bores. They are typically made of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and feature ribs or dividers that hold the bundled cables or conduits in place within the casing. Casing spacers help prevent damage and ensure proper positioning of the pipes or conduits.

2. Bore Spacers: Bore spacers are similar to casing spacers but are specifically designed for road bores. They are typically made of non-conductive materials, such as HDPE, and are used to maintain the separation and alignment of the bundled cables or conduits within the bore hole.

3. Casing End Seals: Casing end seals are used to provide a watertight and secure seal at the ends of the casing or conduit. They help prevent the ingress of water, dirt, and other contaminants into the casing during the road bore.

4. Duct Sliders: Duct sliders are often used in road bores to facilitate the installation of bundled cables or conduits into the casing. They are typically made of low-friction materials, such as plastic or nylon, and are placed at the entrance of the casing to ease the movement of the cables or conduits as they are pushed through the bore.

It's important to note that the specific type of bumper or casing spacer used for road bores may vary depending on the project requirements, local regulations, and the size and configuration of the bundled cables or conduits. It's recommended to consult with industry experts or suppliers who specialize in underground construction materials to ensure you select the appropriate bumpers for your specific application.

Pipe Bumpers (BBS or BBS/CCS)

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.

Prevent Damage on Bundled Pipe Bores

Bundled Directional Drilling Damage Prevention

Installed BBS - 2" wide / 1" tall bumpers to protect your pipeline

Daylight can be seen in the gap created by our BBS system on a 16" pipeline.

     Steel pipe is expensive.  Factory applied pipe coatings are expensive.  Moving coated pipe around the country is expensive.  Boring machinery and crews are incredibly expensive.  I know most end users are painfully aware of this already - but pipelines are assets with incredible value and incredible revenue streams.  Line replacements, line shut downs and major corrosion problems can be career ending propositions.  So with all of that, why aren't more end users and contracting taking the extra step to put bumpers on their bundled directional drills? Some are, but many still are not.

     Pulling a pipe bundle through a boring hole puts some pretty extreme forces on a pipe coating.  The bundle can see experience unexpected bumps and bruises along the way as well.  Picture for a moment a bundled directional drill consisting of a 20" line and two 12" lines.   Each of those lines is going to weigh hundreds of pounds per meter.  What happens when there is some kind of a collision underground caused by a hiccup in the pull; a rock underneath the bundle or a slip of some kind out in the staging area? 

    Beyond that, what about after the bundle is in place?  Do you want your pipelines resting directly on top and touching one another?  Isn't some space between lines a much better option for cathodic protection systems?  I think the answer to all of these questions is pretty clear. 

     Shoot me an email and I'll shoot you an electronic copy of our BBS literature.  It shows installation steps, technical details and before and after photos of our system.  The bumpers speak for themselves and I think you'll probably agree after looking over the photos (steve@jsicoatings.com)

Bumper for Bundle Bore Pipe Sizes

Bore Spacer Use History

     Our bumper spacers that are used to prevent lines from colliding with and damaging one another in bundled road bore applications have been successfully used on many projects now.  Simple to install and proven repeatedly to be reliable (with some before and after photos that can be found on this article).  In that light, I am finding that a couple of questions are asked often.  These two questions are:  what pipe sizes have used these bumpers....and how many have been installed?  I'll answer the second question first.

     So how many of our bumpers have been installed?  The simplest answer is:  thousands.  We've seen thousands of our bumpers installed successfully.  Those protected pipelines on many miles of bundled road bores.  Beyond all of that, we've heard repeatedly about the simplicity of the installation of the system and advantages over some of the other options out there.  I think I described in detail here recently how our bumpers will have no issue with hydrostatic testing (which I was told caused some of the other bumper systems to fail before the bundle ever saw the bore hole). 

     On what sizes lines have our bumpers been used?  At this moment, we've seen our bumpers installed on every pipe size between 3.5" and 20".  We've seen everything from two pipeline bundles to eleven pipeline bundles.  Beyond that though, our evaluation of both the specially formulated bumper material and our knowledge and experience of the system we use to hold the bumpers in place; tells us that this system will work on any sized line.  Our system has been used in slightly different application on lines up to forty eight inch with no issues (actually in those cases our system was used an actual pipeline coating in order to prevent corrosion for twenty plus years; so simply "surviving the bore process without losing track of the bumper" is a pretty small request when making a comparison. 

    

Pipeline Spacer Ring

Directional Drill Spacer Rings

 

     Pulling more than one pipe at a time through a bore hole as a means of reducing pipeline construction costs seems to be something that is getting more and more common every month.  It creates a unique problem though:  how do you prevent the pipe sections from damaging one another both during the 'staging' and during the bore itself?  Good news: we know how.

 

     They go by many names:  bundle bumper sleeves; pipe spacer rings, pipeline doughnuts, pipeline donuts, or any number of other options.  We've sold our spacer rings for pipe as small as 4" and for pipe as large as 20".  We've sold our spacer rings to be used on a two pipe bore -- and we've sold our bumpers to be used on four pipe bores.  There really is no limit.

 

     If you're interested in more information, please send me an email to steve@jsicoatings.com and I will get you a copy of our electronic product guide.  I'm confident it will answer all of your questions (and then some).  

Bundled Pipe Bumpers Case Study

Pipe Bumpers / Bundled Pipe Bumpers / Road Bore Bumpers / Bundled Directional Drill Spacers - CASE STUDY

“I’ve got a problem and you’re the only company I’ve heard of that might be able to help me.”  In all honesty, we get calls like that pretty often!  It is always great when a customer has a difficult problem and we can offer a fairly simple solution.

In this case, the customer had a bundled directional drilling project in Texas.  Pipe was already being strung up, but they didn’t know how they were going to prevent pipe collisions from causing a bunch of damage during the pull through.  To make matters even more complicated, they were pulling four pipelines at once:  16”, 16”, 12” and 10”.  The customer needed a solution…and he needed it fast. 

After several phone conversations, several emails and a face to face meeting, our customer was sold on the BBS system.  Material was going to be needed in about a week.  We were able to call in some favors with some of our suppliers; call in some extra labor for the manufacturing and hit the ground running the very next day.  Problem solved! 

Like any pipeline project, there were surprises along the way.  Fortunately, there was a great crew in place for this project we had an excellent, quality focused contractor.  We had an inspector who combed through every detail with a fine toothed comb.  We had an active and involved end user.  We had a veteran road bore crew.  And of course, we had us – Joint Specialists – with decades and decades of experience with pipeline construction materials. 



The four pipes were strung up side by side and marks were made where the bumpers were to be installed.  The pipe is then preheated to 140F and the bumpers are put in place. 

The two part epoxy is mixed and applied to the warm pipe

 



The heat shrink that acts as the main bumper anchor is shrunk in place.

 

Altogether, each bumper installation took 3-5 minutes.  Once all of the BBS systems were installed, the pipe was bundled up and ready to be dragged through the mud.  This is where we ran into our biggest obstacle.  Just about 400 feet into the hole…the mechanism that grabs the pipe to pull it snapped.  We were told this almost never happens. 







Here was the culprit:  the broken piece which caused the pipe and BBS system to travel an extra 800 feet underground (400 of it in the 'wrong” direction!)

As a result, the pipe bundle that had gone 400 feet into the hole….now had to come 400 feet back out of the hole in the opposite direction.  In addition, backing the pipe out was going to be a trickier proposition as it would be done with side booms. 

Wow, this was going to be quite a test for the BBS system.  400 feet into the hole.  400 feet backwards out of the hole.  Then 1700 feet back in and through the hole.  Beyond all of that though, we were going to get a golden opportunity.  Most of the time, a pipeline enters a bore hole and is never seen again.  Here we were going to get to inspect our system first hand after a 400 feet round trip journey into the Earth!  Is our system really as good as we believe it is?  Let’s find out!

The inspectors and end user representatives were excited about this rare opportunity as well.  They were going to get to closely inspect a few dozen BBS systems.  Would any be missing? Were any bumpers left behind in the mud?  Has the pipe been crashing into the other lines, or not?  Every BBS system looked the same.  All perfect.  All exactly as they’d looked pre-bore (well except for the caked on mud!).  Down the line the inspectors went; running their fingers along each side of the bumper to make sure it was still in place, still standing and still functioning.  We had a 100% success rate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So there you have it.  Does our BBS system work?  Absolutely.  Do you have someone else presenting some kind of solution that they ‘say’ works? If so, please ask them to prove it with documented photographic evidence!  I’m confident that no one else can!