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    A Review of Design Practices of Thrust B

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    Suresh C

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    J Water SRT- Aqua Vol. 45, No.2. pp. 92-95, 1996 OPERATIONAL PAPER A review of Hong Kong K.W. Chau* and V. design practices of thrust blocks for water pipelines in Nat * sistant Profesor, Deparment of iil & Siractaal Engincering. Hong Kong Poltechnic Univer. Hong Kong: and * Enginer, Water Supplies Depariment, Hong Kang Government, Hong Kone ABSTRACT: In water pipeline design, the thrusts at bends, tees, tapers, valves and blank ends are usually restrained by the provision of mass concrete thrust blocks which may be huge in size especially those for large diameter pipes. These large blocks may be difficult to construct and may also cause difficulty to find room for other underground utilities. The objectives of this study are to review the design practices for thrust blocks used in Water Supplies Department (WSD) in Hong Kong and to look for any cost-effective and feasible alternatives of anchoring the pipelines Examen des pratiques dans la conception des butées pour les canalisations d'eau 4 Hong Kong RESUME: Dans la conception des canalisations, les poussées aux coudes, tés, parties coniques, vanes et cextrémités non raccordées sont généralement reprises par des butées en béton de masse parfois de taille imposante. en particulier pour les tuyaux de gros diamétre, Elles peuvent non seulement poser des problémes ‘au niveau de ta construction mais leur encombrement, en réduisant espace disponible. peut rendre la pose souterraine autres services publics difficile, Les objectis de cette étude sont d'examiner les pratiques employées pour kt conception des butées par les Services de distribution d'eau de Hong Kong et de rechercher des options de remplacement viables et rentables pour Pancrage des canalisations. INTRODUCTION Pipelines in water supply networks in Hong Kong are com monly made of stel or ductile iron, They are made up of short lengths of pipes which are subjected to external pressure andjor internal pressure. Over 90% of the water pipelines in Hong Kong are laid underground on in-situ soil or granularjconerete bedding. The remaining pipelines are laid above ground, on slopes, on bridges and under water. One of the various considerations in pipeline design is the thrust at bends, tes, tapers, valves and blank ends. The thrust depends on the internal pressure, the sizeof pipe and the deflection angle of, bends. These thrust forces are usually restrained by the prov sion of mass conerete thrust Blocks which may be huge in size, particularly for large diameter pipelines. These large concrete blocks may be difficult to construct, e.g the block may occupy ‘more than one trafic lane ina public highway. Its also dificult {o find room for other underground utilities due to the presence of large thrust blocks. It is necessary to improve the design of thrust blocks in water supply pipelines. In view of the above, this study attempts to review the WSD's design practices for thrust blocks and to look for alternative methods of anchoring the pipelines with a view to minimising cost and difficulty of LITERATURE REVIEW ‘Technical papers, conference proceedings, codes of practice, international standards and manufacturer's catalogues, ete have been consulted to obtain information for this study, They are analysed under the following topics (a) Design practices used by WSD in Hong Kong; (b) Typical design parameters of soils in Hong Kong: (c) Design guidelines used in overseas countries (@) Design guidelines recommended by pipe manufacturers, such as Stanton; and () British Standards on main-laying practic, pipe materials, Pipe sizes and jointing. British Standard BS 8010: Section 2.1: 1987 [1] only points ‘out the necessity of providing thrust blocks to ductile iron Pipelines not using selF-anchoring joints but there is no guide- 1 1996 Blackwell Science Lid line on how the thrust blocks are designed. Twort ea. [2} states, that at bends, tees, valves and tapers, and also at branch take offs, further thrust blocks will be necessary unless flanged joints are used. This implies that thrust blocks may not be required at bends. tes, valves and tapers, etc. in buried ste! pipelines on condition that the pipeline has continuity across pipe joints by the use of flanged or welded joints. The Institution of Water Engineers [3] suggests the use ofthe longitudinal continuity of steel pipes to take the thrust at bends. It also gives the size of the thrust block for steel hend. However, the information regard- ing the magnitude of the pressure, the bend angle and the pipe size are not distinet and it is not possible to apply the above suidelines in daily design work ‘The above information forms the basis of appraising the ‘current design practices and the formulation of the recom= mended design guidelines. It is seen that there is no general _Buidelin forthe design of thrust Blocks. Its probably because the guidelines may be varied from place to place indifferent parts of the world to suit the local conditions, such as soil condition, frequency of road openings, ete APPRAISAL OF DESIGN PRACTICES ‘The design practices of WSD in Hong Kong for thrust blocks in water pipelines are laid down in paragraph 1.10.9 of Chapter | of the Civil Engineering Design Manual—Volume 28), Further _Buidelines on the provision of thrust blocks are given in Section, 3.4 ofthe WSD's Manual of Mainlaying Practice (5 ‘The practices used for design of thrust blocks in water supply Pipelines are critically appraised to identify areas for improve- ‘ment with particular attention to validity of statements, appro- priateness of design assumptions, adequacy of information and guidelines, suitability of design parameters and applicability on ‘A number of design practices are considered to be valid and are recommended to be continued: (3) The practice of not encasing pipe joints in thrust block will, make the access to the pipe joints easier during maintenance sand repair (ii) Forces due to change in velocity head are assumed negli sible, The static and dynamic thrusts ata 45° bend on a 600 mm diameter pipe with flow velocity of 1.5 m/s under a worki pressure of 700 kN/m’ are calculated o illsteate the insignif- cance of the dynamic thrust Felative to static thrust. In this, typical case, the dynamic thrust contributes only 10 0.31% of the total thrust. It is therefore considered that there is little Significance to take dynamic thrust into account in the assess ‘ment of thrust under working condition, (ii) The passive resistance of soil behind blocks should be Liscarded under working pressure. This is considered to be an essential practice for pipelines laid in the urban atea of Hong. Kong where the ground is frequently dug up by various utility services, such as the electricity company, the telephone © 1996 Blackwell Science Ltd, J Water SRT—Aqua 45, 92-95 Operational paper 9% company and the gas company. This practice ensures that removal of the soil behind the thrust block will not affect the stability of the thrust block, (iv) The passive resistance of soil behind blocks can be used lunder testing pressure. When the passive resistance can be mobilised to balance the thrust at the pipe fittings under testing condition, there will be a significant reduction in the size ofthe theust block (©) All thrust on pipes with detachable joints should be taken by the blocks. There is no continuity in the pipeline due to the presence of detachable joints. (vi) The stability erteria of blocks under working condition are considered to be reasonable. The factor of safety against sliding and bearing capacity are identical to those adopted by the Geotechnical Engineering Office (GEO) of the Civil En, neering Department in the design of earth retaining wals [6], ‘The factor of safety against sliding under testing condition is 1.1, This is acceptable because testing conditions are considered as a temporary situation where a lower factor of safety is ‘adequate. This is similar to the factor of safety for temporary slope cuttings accepted by the GEO which is unity Appraisal of the design practices for thrust blocks based on the literature survey identified the following areas which have ‘rooms for improvement: (i soil parameters for estimation of passive earth pressure, Which alfects the stability analysis of thrust block under pipe- line testing condition, are conservative; (i) necessity of provision of thrust blocks on steel pipelines; (Gi) guidelines for the estimation of safe anchorage length in steel pipeline; and (iv) assumption on the percentage of total thrust taken by thrust block in steel pipelines, FEASIBILITY OF ALTERNATIVE THRUST RESTRAINING METHODS. ‘The feasibility of alternative thrust restraining methods, includ ing use of sell-anchoring joints in ductile iron pipelines, use of ‘ductile iron pipes with rigid joints, reinforced concrete sheath- ing. thick wall pipes and alternative materials or thrust block, are reviewed based on their suitability for use in Hong Kong. Self-anchoring gaskets in ductile iron pipelines are only Available for two particular pipe sizes and cannot be used on Pipe networks involving other pipe sizes. Besides this, the ‘maximum allowable working pressure of the pipelines using self-anchoring joints are lower than that ofthe pipe body and fittings. Thus this type of joint is not suitable for use in many ‘occasions in Hong Kong. Maintenance of the pipelines with selanchoring joints will be very difficult. When any repair or addition of tee branches, section valves, etc. are being carried ‘out within a section of pipe with self-anchoring joints, itis extremely important that all the new joints or additional joints ‘must also be of selfanchoring type. The requirement on super- 94 Operational paper vision of the pipelaying work will be mote stringent. Because two types of gaskets will be used on site, it is possible that the ‘wrong type of gasket could be incorporated. When the soil on ‘the anchoring length ofthe pipeline is excavated by roadworks. ‘oF utilitis-insallation work, the stability of the pipeline may be affected. It is considered that the use ofthis alternative anchor= ing arrangement is not advisable in Hong Kong's water distribution pipe networks, which are subjected to frequent diversion and modification and a high possibility of exposure by works in the vicinity by other utilities. Is possible to have continuity in ductile iron pipelines by the use of pipes with rigid joints. However, ductile iron pipes with flanged joints are more expensive than those with flexible ppush-in joints. The savings in thrust blocks eannot offset the additional costs of pipe materials. Angular deflection at pipe joints isnot possible and will render pipelaying more difficult. It is dificult to replace valves within the safe anchorage length if all the pipes and valves are rigidly jointed by flanged joints. Itis also difficult to install additional valves or tee connections within the anchorage length without affecting the continuity of the pipeline. Hence, the use of ductile iron pipes with rigid joints is not recommended because it is neither cost-effective nor easy to lay of maintain ‘The structural characteristics of pipelines can be improved by ‘employing reinforced concrete sheathing, These additional structural properties will improve the capability of pipeline to resist external forces, but not for internal thrust. The reinforced concrete sheathing works ina similar manner to mass concrete thrust blocks in resisting thrust, except that the anchoring force generated by the same volume of block is slightly higher than that by a mass conerete block due to the weight of the steel reinforcement in the block. This alternative is comparatively more expensive and difficult to construct than conventional conerete thrust blocks. Overall consteuetion time will be increased due to the time required for the fixing of steel reinforcement. It will be more difficult and time-consuming to break up reinforeed concrete when maintenance or modifica tion work is carried out. It is not advisable to use this alternative in Hong Kong’s water distribution system, which reeds to be completed as quickly as possible in order to ‘minimise disturbance to the traffic and the public Increases in pipe wall thickness will increase the weight per unit Fength of pipe and the structural strength of the pipe However, inereases in the structural strength of the pipe will neither improve the pipe's resistance to thrust nor reduce the ‘magnitude of the thrust. Concrete blocks are still required for anchoring pipe fittings. There wll bea minimal reduction in the size ofthe thrust block due to the weight per unit length of pipe being slightly greater. On the contrary, increase of pipe wall thickness will substantially increase the eost per unit length of Pipe. freight cost, and the difficulty in handling. This method is not considered to be acceptable because it is not cost-effective and is dificult to construct for both pipe manufacturer and ‘mainlaying contractor. The size of thrust block can be reduced if the block is constructed of a material of greater unit weight than that of conerete, Among all common construction materials, only metals are heavier than concrete. If metals are used to con- tribute to the effective weight of the thrust block, the cost will be increased, which will be unlikely to be offset by the savings,

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