Branscome Companies

Pipe bursting is a trenchless technology used to replace an existing pipe, while not disturbing aboveground structures, such as roads, buildings, and landscaping.  Pipe bursting can be used to replace pipe, which is undersized, damaged, or made of unsuitable material, with new pipe that is up to four-inches larger in diameter.

Branscome debuted this new service, which we are now offering all over the Mid-Atlantic, on December 3rd, 2008 in Norfolk, VA for a sewer line, which ran underneath a major city road.  We replaced the existing sewer line, which had insufficient capacity, with a new 8-inch PVC line.  Officials from the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and the City of Norfolk were there to watch the pipe bursting and were amazed by how quickly the job was completed and by the minimal disturbance our work caused to traffic.

Originally, the plans called for shutting down the section of the road above the sewer line, excavating 6 feet of road and earth, replacing the existing pipe with a new one, and then repaving the portion of the road we excavated-- a process which could have taken up to two weeks.  However, by using the pipe bursting technology, we only needed to dig a small pit on each side of the road to replace the old pipe with a new PVC line.  The entire process took less than two days and traffic on the major road above the sewer line was never stopped.

Applications

• Can be used on pipes ranging from 2-inches to 42-inches

• Almost any type of pipe (PVC, cast iron, ductile, RCP, etc.) except CMP

• Used on pressure, gravity, water, sanitary sewer, and storm drain piping

Advantages

• Minimal disturbance to aboveground structures

• Increase size of original pipe up to 4-inches

• Faster

• Safer (eliminates working around utilities, shoring, etc.)

• Replace existing pipe with a better product (typically fused HDPE)

• Can help to correct off-set joints

If you would like to learn more about Branscome's Pipe Bursting abilities, please contact Danny Johnson at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .