What Is Lateral Lining and Why Do It?

As a building ages, so too does the infrastructure serving the building such as water, sewer, electric service, hardscapes, and structures.  Some of those age faster due to outside forces acting on them, while others remain unaffected for decades.  When roots find their way to the sanitary drain system, and you are approaching the design life of the drain systems, temporary measures such as cleaning the roots out or killing them with herbicides end with a final collapse of the sanitary sewer.  At this point it’s dig up and replace the pipe with a new sewer line.  If you reline the pipe with a cured in place pipe, before it collapses, you can give the property the equivalent of a new pipe that will last at least 50 years before any further action is required.  This is the same length of service as digging up the existing pipe and replacing it with a brand new one.  The same life expectancy. 

To accomplish this, the roots are fully removed from the existing pipe.  The existing pipe then becomes a form for the new pipe to follow.  A liquid resin is mixed and loaded into a fabric tube cut to the length of the pipe to be rebuilt.  A vacuum is placed on the fabric tube to remove any air pockets and allow the resin to fully saturate the tube.  As the resin is pulled through the tube, the tube and resin is calibrated to a designed thickness through a pinch roller.  After it leaves the pinch roller, it is loaded into a lining device, which turns the tube inside out with air or water pressure.  The next step in the process involves inserting a calibration tube through the resin saturated liner and beyond, add pressure and inflate the assembly until the resin hardens.  Once hardened, the calibration tube is removed and a new pipe is produce to replace the original pipe, leaving the original pipe in place.  Because the surface of the new lined pipe is smoother than the original pipe, flow capacity is actually increased even through we’ve taken some of the internal space of the original pipe. 

For more information or to find an installer near you contact us. 

Ben Lehman

Pipe Lining Supply of Illinois 

910 West Wilson Street 

Batavia, IL 60510 

Office (630) 326-9061 

Cell (630) 277-2637 

[email protected] 

www.pipeliningsupply.com