Selection Method for Trenchless Technologies

Abstract

Trenchless technologies offer contractors and end users (primarily municipalities) a broad spectrum of tools from which to select when installing or rehabilitating underground infrastructure. Due to the large and expanding number of trenchless methods available, the decision as to which tool to use for any given underground infrastructure problem is no longer trivial. Trenchless methods allow inspection, access, repair, expansion, upgrade, and installation of most underground infrastructure systems with minimum surface disruption. The tools that trenchless technologies offer range from robots to microtunnelling and from closed-circuit television to cured in-place lining. Each tool has its proper application. Inappropriate selection of trenchless tools can lead to inferior performance of the infrastructure system and poor cost-benefit ratios for the investment. This paper presents a paradigm that provides the user an efficient synthesis of needs and methods that can be of use when selecting trenchless construction tools specifically for the repair or upgrade of underground gravity-driven hydraulic systems.