What Does
Pipe Splitting Mean?
Pipe splitting is a process for replacing old or damaged underground piping. Cutting disks are used to split the pipe along its length while a new pipe is drawn in from behind. Pipe splitting saves significant time and costs by destroying the old piping and installing the replacement in one step without the need for open trenching.
Trenchlesspedia Explains Pipe Splitting
As underground piping systems age and become vulnerable to corrosion and failure, companies have explored new ways of replacing this piping infrastructure in the most cost effective and least disruptive way. Pipe splitting is one of the technologies that have developed to achieve this goal. In order to make space for the new pipe to be installed, the old pipe is split along its longitudinal length. An expander, located just behind the cutting head, pushes the split pipe open so that the trailing new pipe can easily slip into place. Pipe splitting is closely related to pipe bursting, and often, the same hydraulic pulling system can be used for either application.