Sharing an incident with you.
It is brief but carries an important reminder:
"GRP pipes are very strong while in operation (pressurized with water) but very fragile when empty and need special
care during construction phase."
During hydrotest of the 8” fire fighting line, a leak occurred.
After investigation, it has been found that the leak was due to a shock on the pipe, and then with water pressure, water
had followed some gaps within the fiber and went out cracking the surface of the pipe.
It is assumed that the shock was done prior the hydrotest. Several occasions can lead to a shock during all the
handling of the pipe (loading / unloading / storage / loading to reach the site / unloading at site / lay down / fixation /
backfilling).
A test has been done with a steel load of 5 kg and the pipe had a crack.
GRP pipes are very strong while in operation (pressurized with water) but very fragile when empty and need special
care during construction phase.