Welcome to John’s Blog. Answers to frequently asked questions are periodically posted here. The objective is to share information about PVC pipe with readers as well as with utilities, design engineers and pipe installers. The blog provides the latest information on PVC pipe design, installation, and application for water and wastewater infrastructure projects.
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John Houle: Senior Technical Consultant, PVC Pipe Industry
John Houle holds a Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Missouri and an MBA from the University of Oregon. He has more than 25 years of experience in the plastic pipe industry in applications engineering, market development, forensic analysis, technical writing, and standards development.
The attached technical brief provides the engineering to dispel this misconception. Click here to read.
The fact is that buried PVC pipe receives support from the soil that surrounds it. Design examples in the document assume a low value for the soil capacity – despite this very conservative assumption, thin-walled SDR41 pipe would not experience collapse due to fire-flow conditions. An engineer who designs buried PVC pipe does not need to consider collapse from fire-flow pumping.
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