Filling 16" abandoned natural gas line
cp 12-05-2013
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We have to fill an abandoned Natural Gas line 16" diameter 1,500' long. I havent filled a line this big or this long before and was wondering if anyone has experience with these in the past? Worthwhile advice would be appreciated, thanks!


MVCP 12-05-2013
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There was a artical in the ACPA magizine Concrete Pumping about the worlds longest pour doing the same application a few months back. I've looked through my stuff but cant find the artical but if I remember correctly it was in Minnasota and crossing into Canada?? You can probably find it on-line


Mister_Perkins 12-05-2013
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I pumped through 2000 feet of 5 inch line last winter and we did it with a 28 meter plumbed for high pressure.

If you have a couple yards of grout, and a bunch of water ahead of the concrete it should pump right through. I was pumping concrete through the 2000 feet.. Actually it went about 800 feet across a dam, dropped 200 feet then went out another 1000 feet.


Mister_Perkins 12-05-2013
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As long as you can keep the pump going non-stop I dont think that you will have an issue. Just keep pumping until it pressures out. Thats about all you can do


Captain Ron 12-05-2013
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I did an abandoned water line 4800' long in 1985. The contractor wanted to pump the entire line from on access spot even though the line ran along side the road and was accessible the entire 4800'. Well I brought my little 1985 750 Schwing and a 4" HD hose, hooked to their welded access pipe and started pumping. This was one of my first jobs and I really didn't know a whole lot.The problem with running great distances is that the first yard of concrete gets pumped and then continues to get pumped until the entire job is done.

The first 3 trucks went fine then the pump started to strain and the volume went way down. The 750 had the ability to change the pressure by switching a few hose around and putting pressure on the piston side. I did that but of course the volume was cut in half . Pumping the fourt and fifth trucks wasn't too bad but slow. We are now aboutb 2 1/2 hours into the pour and that 1 st yard is still travelingthrough dry abadoned pipe and I am pumping the entire 50 yards. The pump is really grunting now and the hose is jumping at every stroke. Another thing that happens at great distance is the material acts like a spring and every time the machine would switch a large amount of the material that I just pushed would spring back into the hopper.

Long story not so short, it got to the point where the stroke wasn't long enough to load any material into the pipe without it slamming back. I was about to cry "Uncle" when the weld broke on the contractors line and he was forced to cut a new access at about the 4400' foot mark. I moved 4400' up hooked to his pipe and pumped the last truck in a few minutes. So I guess I successfully pumped 4400'.  I really don't want to do it again!!


thinksnow 12-05-2013
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ive done  a few pipe abandonments anywhere from 2 yards to 30 yds in a 8 inch pipe so about 2000 ft but we used a fill mix of 100lb cement and a shit load of fly ash and sand also use it for bore encasing. and only used a PC40 CIFA . the most important is the mix design  we do alot of this in old water lines ,sewer and storm drains those are broken up from 50-200 ft


thewizard 12-05-2013
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Make sure there is a vent of some kind at the end, and importantly opened, or you will create a bomb! 


79xlch 12-05-2013
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Can you use a material with a comperrive strength of 200 psi.  If you can it will pump as far as you want.  I did 80 yards 1 mile long a couple of years ago with my little Oilin 5-45


AZ pumper 12-05-2013
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Make sure they have vents for the air in the line to escape from 


Mr.HighRise 12-05-2013
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did a pipe fill last year a mile long pumped with cdf that had 400 lbs of fly ash per yard piss wet and a sack and a half of cement, only hit 80 bar. pumped off of back end on my 39 into a brand new 3 inch hose then into the pipe line, had a large vent at the end which is very key, just pump nice and slow and watch your pressure gage like a hawk, if you see it spike for a split second then you most likely just plugged and broke the pipeline and now the muddy will work its way to the surface and you won't even know it till it surfaces. the mudd will always find the path of least resistance. good luck hope this helps. one more thing use a slam gate so you can disconnect without losing any mudd onto the ground

cp 12-08-2013
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Well that's what the plan is so far. 400 ash 200 portland. And yes the ends are vented, as if you needed to ask.