System and method for rehabilitating a host pipe

Abstract

A system for in situ rehabilitation of a corrugated culvert or other conduit includes a support frame coupled to an inner surface of the culvert. The support frame provides attachment points that are spaced away from the inner surface of the culvert. An assembly of interconnected longitudinal planks is coupled to the support frame and forms a liner within the culvert. Each longitudinal plank has an inwardly facing surface that forms a portion of an inner surface of the liner and an outwardly facing surface opposite the inwardly facing surface. At least one longitudinal protrusion extends away from the outwardly facing surface of each longitudinal plank. A layer of a cured cementitious grout material fills or substantially fills a space between the inner surface of the host pipe and the plurality of interconnected planks, and the at least one longitudinal protrusion of each longitudinal plank is embedded within the cured cementitious grout material.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for in situ rehabilitation of a host pipe, comprising:
 disposing a support frame within the host pipe and adjacent to an inner surface of the host pipe, the support frame providing a plurality of attachment points spaced away from the inner surface of the host pipe;   attaching a plurality of longitudinal planks to the support frame via the plurality of attachment points, each longitudinal plank of the plurality of longitudinal planks having an inwardly facing surface that forms a portion of a liner surface within the host pipe, and each longitudinal plank of the plurality of longitudinal planks having an outwardly facing surface opposite the inwardly facing surface with at least one longitudinal protrusion extending away therefrom; and   at least partially filling a space that is defined between the inner surface of the host pipe and the plurality of longitudinal planks with a cementitious grout material, to form a grout layer upon curing of the cementitious grout material,   wherein the cementitious grout material flows around and surrounds the at least one longitudinal protrusion during the step of filling the space, such that the at least one longitudinal protrusion is embedded within the grout material upon curing of the cementitious grout material.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein disposing the support frame within the host pipe comprises forming two overlapping spirals of a fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) rebar material within the host pipe, one of the two overlapping spirals of FRP rebar having a right lay and the other one of the two overlapping spirals of FRP rebar having a left lay. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein disposing the support frame within the host pipe comprises assembling together a plurality of rod-elements and a plurality of hoop-elements. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising anchoring the support frame to the host pipe. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein attaching each longitudinal plank of the plurality of longitudinal planks to the support frame comprises:
 attaching clips to the support frame to define attachment points of the plurality of attachment points; and   slidingly receiving the at least one protrusion extending from the outwardly facing surface of the longitudinal plank within complementary shaped-recess portions of the clips.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein attaching each longitudinal plank of the plurality of longitudinal planks to the support frame further comprises engaging a first coupling structure arranged along a first longitudinal edge of a longitudinal plank with a second coupling structure arranged along a second longitudinal edge of an adjacent second longitudinal plank and sliding the first longitudinal plank relative to the adjacent second longitudinal plank along a longitudinal direction. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the plurality of longitudinal planks comprises two longitudinal planks in an end-to-end arrangement and comprising disposing an end-coupling member between the respective ends of the two longitudinal planks. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising, prior to disposing the support frame within the host pipe:
 cleaning an inner surface of the host pipe using high pressure water blasting; and   applying a preparation treatment to the cleaned inner surface of the host pipe.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the preparation treatment comprises a layer of closed cell foam material applied onto and filling recessed areas along the inner surface of the host pipe, a layer of a cementitious mortar material applied onto the layer of closed cell foam material, and a layer of a waterproof material applied onto the cementitious mortar. 
     
     
         10 . A method for in situ rehabilitation of a host pipe in the form of a corrugated culvert or other conduit, comprising:
 applying a preparation treatment to an inner surface of the host pipe to at least partially fill in at least some corrugated indentations in the inner surface of the host pipe;   disposing a support frame within the interior of the host pipe and adjacent to the host pipe inner surface, and coupling said support frame to the host pipe;   assembling a plurality of longitudinal planks within the interior of the host pipe to form a liner, comprising attaching the longitudinal planks to the support frame and further comprising coupling together adjacent longitudinal planks via coupling structures that are arranged along each of the opposite longitudinal edges of each of the longitudinal planks, wherein each longitudinal plank has an inwardly facing surface that forms a portion of an inner surface of the liner and an opposite outwardly facing surface having at least one longitudinal protrusion extending away therefrom; and,   at least partially filling a space that is defined between the preparation treatment applied to the inner surface of the host pipe and the assembled plurality of longitudinal planks with a cementitious grout material, to form a grout layer upon curing of the cementitious grout material,   wherein the cementitious grout material flows around and surrounds the at least one longitudinal protrusion during the step of filling the space, such that the at least one longitudinal protrusion is embedded within the grout material upon curing of the cementitious grout material.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein disposing the support frame within the host pipe comprises forming two overlapping spirals of a fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) rebar material within the host pipe, one of the two overlapping spirals of FRP rebar having a right lay and the other one of the two overlapping spirals of FRP rebar having a left lay. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein attaching each longitudinal plank to the support frame comprises:
 attaching clips to the support frame to provide attachment points; and   slidingly receiving the at least one protrusion extending from the outwardly facing surface of the longitudinal plank within complementary shaped-recess portions of the clips.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the coupling structures comprise a male coupling rail disposed along a first longitudinal edge of each longitudinal plank and a female coupling groove disposed along a second longitudinal edge of each longitudinal plank opposite the first longitudinal edge, and further comprising engaging the male coupling rail disposed along the first longitudinal edge of a first longitudinal plank with the female coupling groove disposed along the second longitudinal edge of an adjacent second longitudinal plank, and sliding the first longitudinal plank relative to the adjacent second longitudinal plank along a longitudinal direction. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 10 , comprising, prior to disposing the support frame within the host pipe, cleaning an inner surface of the host pipe using high pressure water blasting, wherein the preparation treatment is applied to the cleaned inner surface of the host pipe. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the preparation treatment comprises a layer of closed cell foam material applied onto and filling recessed areas along the inner surface of the host pipe, a layer of a cementitious mortar material applied onto the layer of closed cell form material, and a layer of a waterproof material applied onto the cementitious mortar. 
     
     
         16 . A system for in situ rehabilitation of a host pipe in the form of a corrugated culvert or other conduit, comprising:
 a support frame, which is sized for being received within and coupled to an inner surface of the host pipe, the support frame configured to provide a plurality of attachment points spaced away from the inner surface of the host pipe;   a plurality of interconnected longitudinal planks forming a liner within the host pipe, each longitudinal plank of the plurality of longitudinal planks having an inwardly facing surface that forms a portion of an inner surface of the liner, and each longitudinal plank of the plurality of longitudinal planks having an outwardly facing surface opposite the inwardly facing surface with at least one longitudinal protrusion extending away therefrom; and   a layer of a cured cementitious grout material filling or substantially filling a space between the inner surface of the host pipe and the plurality of interconnected planks,   wherein the at least one longitudinal protrusion of each longitudinal plank is embedded within the cured cementitious grout material.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , further comprising a preparation treatment applied to the inner surface of the host pipe, the preparation treatment comprising:
 a layer of closed cell foam material applied onto and filling recessed areas along the inner surface of the host pipe;   a layer of a cementitious mortar material applied onto the layer of closed cell foam material; and   a layer of a waterproof material applied onto the cementitious mortar.   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the support frame comprises two overlapping spirals of a fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) rebar material, one of the two overlapping spirals of FRP rebar having a right lay and the other one of the two overlapping spirals of FRP rebar having a left lay. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the support frame comprises a plurality of rod-elements and a plurality of hoop-elements, the hoop elements being spaced apart from one another along a length direction of the support frame, and each of the rod elements being coupled to the hoop elements, wherein the rod elements are arranged circumferentially around the hoop elements. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein each longitudinal plank of the plurality of interconnected longitudinal planks comprises:
 a male coupling rail disposed along a first longitudinal edge thereof; and   a female coupling groove disposed along a second longitudinal edge thereof opposite the first longitudinal edge,   wherein a first longitudinal plank is interconnected with an adjacent second longitudinal plank by engaging the male coupling rail disposed along the first longitudinal edge of the first longitudinal plank with the female coupling groove disposed along the second longitudinal edge of the adjacent second longitudinal plank, and sliding the first longitudinal plank relative to the adjacent second longitudinal plank along a longitudinal direction.   
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 16 , comprising a plurality of clips, each clip having a first recessed portion configured to attach to the support frame to define one attachment point of the plurality of attachment points and having a second recessed portion configured to slidingly receive the at least one protrusion extending from the outwardly facing surface of one of the longitudinal planks. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the plurality of interconnected longitudinal planks comprises two longitudinal planks in an end-to-end arrangement and comprising an end-coupling member disposed between the respective ends of the two longitudinal planks in the end-to-end arrangement. 
     
     
         23 . A rehabilitated culvert, comprising:
 a corrugated steel pipe (CSP) having an outer corrugated surface and an inner corrugated surface;   a preparation treatment applied to the inner corrugated surface;   a layer of cured cementitious grout material bonded to the preparation treatment;   a support frame embedded within the layer of the cementitious grout material; and   a plurality of interconnected longitudinal planks arranged side-by-side and end-to-end, each longitudinal plank having at least one longitudinal protrusion on a surface thereof facing the inner corrugated surface, the at least one longitudinal protrusion of each longitudinal plank being imbedded within the layer of cured cementitious grout material, the interconnected longitudinal planks cooperating to form an inside liner of the CSP that is spaced away from the inner corrugated surface of the CSP.   
     
     
         24 . The rehabilitated culvert of  claim 23 , wherein the preparation treatment comprises:
 a layer of closed cell foam material applied onto and filling recessed areas along the inner corrugated surface;   a layer of a cementitious mortar material applied onto the layer of closed cell foam material; and   a layer of a waterproof material applied onto the cementitious mortar