21 Sep FITT Bluforce for the upgrade of the Piana di Sibari irrigation network
The FITT Bluforce polymer alloy pipes were used to upgrade the irrigation network serving Piana di Sibari, the largest plain in the Calabria region, located between the Pollino and Sila massifs, and characterised by lush citrus fruit cultivation, including the prized clementines of Calabria PGI.
The company Sposato Costruzioni Srl won the tender with the most economically advantageous offer, proposing FITT Bluforce pipes as a technical improvement on the PVC-U originally contemplated in the tender.
What does the tender improvement consist of?
Through the scoring criteria of the technical offer, the tender specifications rewarded the proposals of materials and solutions capable of guaranteeing greater reliability, ease of maintenance, quality proven by third-party certification, compliance with the product minimum environmental criteria and, lastly, duration of the proposed guarantees.
In specific, FITT Bluforce PVC-A pipes come with EPD® environmental declaration obtained in accordance with the ISO 14025 and EN 15804 standards and certified by SGS, an accredited third party body. The environmental product declaration is the main tool for quantifying and communicating the environmental impacts of a product throughout its life cycle.
Furthermore, with the FITT Bluforce system, the commercial warranty is integrated by a 10-year insurance certificate for damage caused to third parties.
The advantages of PVC-A
The PVC-A polymer alloy represents the evolution of traditional PVC-U and guarantees improved mechanical characteristics when compared with the materials traditionally used for new irrigation infrastructures. The PVC-A polymer alloy, obtained from the combination of polyvinyl chloride and chlorinated polyethylene (CPE), brings together the strength of PVC-U and the ductility of polyethylene, for a product that offers very high resistance to crack propagation, the main cause of failure in pressure networks.
Compared with other materials belonging to the modified PVC category (PVC-M), PVC-A pipes maintain the wall thicknesses necessary to guarantee adequate annular rigidity of the pipe and, consequently, a high resistance to compression loads, even in the case of empty pipes, a frequent occurrence during irrigation downtimes.
FITT Bluforce therefore ensures a longer total lifetime of the distribution networks and greater reliability in water service delivery, lower construction costs and lower long-term maintenance costs.
The entire project required 15,786 metres of FITT Bluforce DN200 PN10 and 5,586 metres of FITT Bluforce DN225 PN10.
