The water main supply network of Bagnacavallo, a town in the province of Ravenna with 17,000 inhabitants, was no longer able to meet the needs of the area due to a significant growth in the population and production activities.

Laid in the ‘60s, the pipes had a rather narrow diameter (between 63 and 110 mm): it was no longer possible to ensure the required water supply and some places had low
water pressure.

The only course of action was to rebuild the network, but the building-site zone was situated along an extremely busy road with numerous intersections, such as crossroads and very deep rainwater sewer-system canals.

The other issue, which was no less pressing, stemmed from the need to pre-assemble many bars of pipe (up to 250 metres) along the cycle path: this would have led to problems in managing the worksite spaces as well as the temporary closure of high-traffic road sections.

This is why Hera – a leading Italian multi-utility company and Integrated Water Service operator for the province of Ravenna – decided to use horizontal directional drilling with FITT Bluforce RJ for the job.

Horizontal directional drilling (HDD) is trenchless technology which allows pipelines to be laid without having to carry out surface excavation; this significantly reduces the inconvenience caused by a traditional worksite, and in situations like that of Bagnacavallo it is the only way to work around an otherwise insurmountable obstacle. The no-dig solution chosen by Hera – which limited the amount of excavation work along the cycle path – meant that vehicles could drive along the road as usual and that there would be normal access to the local businesses throughout the reconstruction activities.

For this HDD installation Hera chose FITT Bluforce RJ, the polymer alloy pipe with an integrated restrained-joint system.

FITT Bluforce RJ is the first pipe in Europe made from thermoplastic materials with an integrated immovable mechanical sealing system. The double-chamber seal hot-inserted in advance ensures ease of joining and a fully tight hydraulic and mechanical seal, which make FITT Bluforce RJ ideal for trenchless applications. FITT Bluforce RJ is lightweight, easy to handle even in enclosed spaces and does not require drawn-out costly welding operations which slow down work on the site.

The entire 1,200 meters of this worksite was laid in a mere 6 days with 6 HDD pull. Each pull varied between 180 and 265 metres, with a pulling force ranging between 4.5 and 5.5 tonnes. Installation of FITT Bluforce RJ DN200 PN20 improved pressure up to 60%.

The installation of FITT Bluforce RJ DN200 PN20 allowed the municipality of Bagnacavallo to increase the pressure of the water network by 60% and thus eliminate the inconvenience to the population and production activities recorded up to that moment.