CONSTRUCTION SEWERS – MATERIALS, SHAPES AND JOINTS IN SEWERS

In this lecture, the following topics relating to construction of sewers will be discussed

 Materials for sewers

 Shapes of sewers
 Joints in sewers

Materials for sewers – factors to be considered

 Cost: The cost of the material of sewer should be moderate and reasonable
 Durability: The material of sewer should be durable so that the replacement of sewers is not
to be carried out too frequently.
 Imperviousness: The material of sewer should be impervious in nature.
 Resistance to abrasion: The sewage may be erosive. If is contains grit and moves with high
velocity, the erosion of sewer material takes place due to abrasion. Hence, the material for
sewer should possess enough resistance to the abrasion
 Resistance to corrosion: The sewage possesses corrosive qualities and hence, the material of
which the sewer is composed should be capable of offering resistance to the corrosion.
 Strength: The sewers are generally laid underground. Hence, they are likely to be subjected
to heavy external loads. The material of sewer should be strong enough to bear such external
loads to addition to the internal stresses.
 Weight: The material of sewer should possess moderate weight so as to make easy the
handling and carrying of sewers

Materials of Sewers

The following are materials which are used for sewers

 Asbestos cement
 Brick
 Cast iron
 Cement concrete
 Corrugated iron
 Plastic
 Steel
 Stoneware
 wood

Asbestos cement

These sewers as made from a mixture of asbestos fibre and cement. They are available in sizes upto
900 mm diameter.

Advantages

 Easy to cut and join

 Durable against soil corrosion
 Inside surface is smooth and hence least resistance is offered to the friction
 Light in weight and hence easy to handle
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Disadvantages

 These sewers are brittle and cannot stand impact forces during handling operations
 The structural strength of asbestos cement sewers is poor and they cannot be laid to resist
heavy external loads.

Brick sewers

The earliest forms of sewers were made of bricks. At present, they are not favoured mainly because
of more labour involved in the construction of such sewers. But they can be constructed to work
satisfactorily with the following precautions:

 The purpose made bricks should be used instead of ordinary bricks. The purpose-made
bricks will make the mortar joints of uniform width
 The invert block for sewer should be made specially from hard bricks or paving bricks.
 If necessary, the brick sewer should be surrounded by a concrete layer
 If brick sewer consists of more than one ring, the necessary bond should be provided
between successive rings
 Where bricks are easily available, the brick sewers of large size can be cheaply constructed.
However, such sewers should be plastered on outside surface and linked inside with
stoneware or ceramic blocks to prevent the entry of tree roots, ground water etc.
 If brick sewers are not carefully constructed, they may deform and leakage may take place.

Cast iron sewers

The cast iron sewers possess high strength and they are durable. They are however likely to be
acted upon by the acids contained in sewage. But if surfaces of cast iron sewers are coated with
paint or cement concrete, they can resist the action of acids in sewage. They are available in sizes
varying from 150 mm diameter to 750 mm diameter.

The cast iron sewers are watertight and they are adopted for special purposes as shown below:

 Danger of contamination
 Expensive road surface
 Heavy external load – railway line, foundation walls
 When pumped under pressure
 Differences in temperature
 Heavy movements and vibrations
 Wet ground

Cement concrete sewer

The cement concrete sewers may be plain or reinforced. The plain cement concrete sewers are used
upto diameter of 600 mm and when size increases beyond this limit, it becomes necessary to provide
reinforcing bars in the sewer cross section. The usual ways of placing reinforcement are single circular
cage reinforcement and double circular cage reinforcement.

In single circular cage reinforcement, the main circumferential reinforcement is placed at a distance
of about 25 mm from inner surface. Such an arrangement is adopted when diameter of sewer is less
than 80 cm and when it is subjected to internal pressure only

In double circular cage reinforcement, the main circumferential reinforcement is placed in two sets –
one at a distance of about 25mm from inner and the other set at a distance of about 25mm from outer
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surface. Such an arrangement is adopted when diameter of sewer exceeds 80 cm and when it is
subject to internal as well as external pressure

In an Elliptical cage reinforcement, the main circumferential reinforcement is placed in such a way
that the rings of elliptical shape are formed. Such an arrangement is adopted when diameter is large
and when it is subjected to external pressure only

Properties of cement concrete which is to be prepared for constructing sewer

 Cement concrete should be of rich quality

 Grading and mixing of aggregate should be proper
 Placing of cement concrete should take place immediately after its preparation
 Cement concrete should be placed in such a way that a completely surrounds the
circumferential reinforcement

Cement concrete sewer

It can be prepared either at factory or at site. In any case, the cement concrete sewers should be of
correct shape, free from cracks, fractures or any other defects. Clear ringing sound when struck with
a hammer

Plastic sewer

The use of plastic sewers is still in elementary stage. The plastic sewers may be useful, when Industrial
wastes with corrosion problems are to be tackled. These are available in long lengths. However, the
strength is reduced with increase in temperature

Steel sewers

The steel sewers are used mainly at places where imperviousness, lightness and resistance to high
pressure are required. The steel sewers are flexible and can absorb vibration and shocks in a better
way. They are generally used for main, outfall and trunk sewers having diameter exceeding 750 mm.
The sewers are riveted or welded. The riveting is objectionable for two reasons:

 Cost of riveting is high

 Riveting leads to exposed rivet heads on the interior surface of sewers and this makes inside
surface of sewers rough

Stoneware sewers

They are also known as vitrified clay sewers or salt-glazed sewers. They are generally used for house
drainage connections

Advantages

• Interior surface is smooth

• Cheap and easily available

• Durable and better resistance to corrosion from most acids

Disadvantages

• The sewers are brittle in nature. They are therefore likely to be damaged during transport
and handling operations.
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• They are not strong enough to allow sewage to flow through them under pressure

• These sewers are bulky and heavy in weight. Hence, it is difficult to handle, transport and lay
them.

Wood sewers

The Creosoted wood is not affected by the components of ordinary sewage. But, the sewer is
constantly kept submerged, otherwise alternate dryness and wetness leads to rot. The life of wood
sewers is short. They are now rarely adopted in conveyance of sewage

Shapes of sewer

Generally, the sewers of circular shape are adopted because of the following facts:

 It affords the least perimeter and construction cost is minimum

 There are no corners and hence chances of deposition of organic matter are reduced to the
minimum
 Easy to construct to handle
 They are subjected to hoop compression and hence for concrete sewers, the concrete
required is minimum because of its inherent high compressive strength and further to
reinforcement will be required.
 They possess excellent hydraulic properties because they provide the maximum hydraulic
mean depth when running full or half full

However, the sewers of non-circular shapes are also used for the following various reasons:

 To bring down cost of construction

 To improve the velocity of flow when the depth of sewage is low
 To make them large enough for a man to enter for cleaning, repairing etc
 To secure more structural strength
 To simplify the process of construction

The following are the non-circular shapes which are commonly used for sewers:

 Basket handle
 Catenary shaped
 Egg shaped
 Horse shoed section
 Parabolic
 Rectangular or box type
 Semi-circular
 Semi-elliptical
 U-shaped

Basket handle section

In this type of sewer, the upper portion of sewer has got the shape of a basket handle. The bottom
portion is narrower in width than the upper portion. It carries small discharges through the bottom
narrow portion and during monsoon the combined sewage is carried through the full section. This
shape of sewer is not generally used at present
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Catenary shaped section

In this type of sewer, the shape of the sewer is in the form of a catenary, i.e., the curve formed by a
flexible homogenous cord, which is hanging freely between two points of support and not acted upon
by any other force except gravity. This shape is suitable for tunnelling work and it is adopted in such
type of construction

Standard egg shaped

This type of sewer is suitable for carrying combined flow. The main advantage of this type of sewer is
that it gives slightly higher velocity during low flow than a circular sewer of the same capacity.
However, the construction is difficult and it is less stable than circular section and hence it requires
good masonry support or backing. Inverted egg shaped sewer gives better stability and it can be used
for construction of large sewers with heavy discharges
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Horse shoe section

The horse shoe section is used for construction of large sewers with heavy discharges such as trunk
sewers and outfall sewers. Such a section is also suitable when the available headroom for the
construction of sewer is limited. The invert may be flat, circular, or paraboloid. Its top is semi-circular
with sides inclined or vertical. Its height is more than its width. It is mostly used in constructing sewers
in tunnels.

Parabolic section

The upper arch of the sewer takes the form of a parabola. The sewer with parabolic section is
suitable for carrying comparatively small quantities of sewage and it is found to be economic in
construction. The Invert of the sewer may be flat, elliptical or parabolic

Rectangular or box type section

This type of sewer is stable easy to construct. It is sometimes used to work as a storage tank. For
example, the sewage from a sea outfall sewer cannot be discharged into the sea during tide and hence,
it becomes necessary to store the sewage from some period
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Semi circular section

This gives a wider base at the bottom and hence it becomes suitable for constructing large sewers
with less available headroom. Its place however at present is taken by the rectangular section which
possess better hydraulic properties.

Semi elliptical section

It is adopted for soft soil as it is more stable. This section is not suitable for carrying small quantity of
sewage and it is generally adopted for sewers having diameter greater than 180 cm or so.

U shaped section

The U-shaped section may have the true shape of letter U or a small trench of U shape can be set up
in the large section of sewer. The trench is known as canette and such an arrangement is adopted for
a combined sewer having predominant flow of storm water
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Joints in sewers

It is quite evident that suitable joints will have to be formed to make a continuous sewer line. The
type of joint will be decided by pipe material, internal pressure, external loads

Requirements of a good sewer joint

 Tree roots should not penetrate

 Capable of resisting the effects of acidic, alkaline or gaseous actions of the sewage
 Cheap and economical
 Easy to construct
 Non-absorbent and durable
 Not broken easily
 Watertight

Depending on the manner of making a joint, the following are the five types of joints

 Cement mortar joint

 Collar joint
 Flexible or bituminous joint
 Mechanical joint
 Open joint

Cement mortar joint

In this type of joint, cement mortar of proportion 1:1 or 1:2 is inserted between the space of bell end
and spigot end. In order to maintain the alignment of sewers, gaskets, or packing pieces may be
placed. The mortar is filled in the annular space formed between the bell and spigot ends and the
joint is finished by applying cement mortar at an angle of 45° on the outer face. This is the most widely
used

Difficulties of cement mortar joint

 Affected by corrosion due to acids, corrosive soils, hydrogen sulphide in sewers

 Joints are rigid in nature – subsequent movement therefore, results in breakage of sewer or
joint
 Demands skilled labour.
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Collar joint

In this type of joint Ends of sewer are plain. The ends of sewer are placed near each and other then a
collar of slightly bigger diameter is placed over the ends of the sewer. The annular space between the
collar and ends of sewer is then filled with cement mortar of proportion 1:1. The collar joints are used
for sewers of large diameters.

Flexible or bituminous joints

In this type of joint, Bitumen is used instead of cement mortar. These Joints are flexible and they are
therefore adopted at places where there are chances of sewer settlement

Mechanical joint

In this type of joint, the mechanical devices, such as flanged rings, bolts are used to keep the two ends
of sewer together. Generally used for metallic sewer such as cast-iron, steel etc

Open joints

In this type of joint, the ends of sewer are placed together or in case of pipes with bell and spigot ends,
no filling material is inserted in the annular space formed between bell and spigot ends. When there
is no objection to infiltration and when the sewer is passing through dry ground, the open joints are
adopted. The joints are merely covered with material like gravel to prevent entry of earth particles in
the sewer