Ground Displacements and Pulling Forces of Pipe-Swallowing in Well-Graded Sand

Pipe bursting is a trenchless replacement method for existing pipe with less surface disturbance than traditional open-cut construction. In some instances, potential ground movements caused by pipe bursting construction may lead to damage of surrounding structures. Pipe-swallowing is a pipe replacement technique that involves the replacement of a buried pipe with minimal surface disturbances. An experiment was performed in a 3.0 × 1.8 × 1.5 m test box to quantify ground movements during pipe-swallowing. An existing 300 mm diameter high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe was buried 1 m below the ground surface and replaced with a 300 mm diameter HDPE pipe. Pulling forces and the three-dimensional surface displacements associated with the pipe-swallowing operation were investigated. It is concluded that the pulling forces associated with pipe-swallowing were higher than with pipe-bursting, and almost no vertical or transverse displacements of the ground surface were observed during the tests. These data can be used as a database for specialists applying their operation in the field and related research into ground disturbance during pipe-swallowing.