During its annual meeting on May 4 to 7, the Plastics Pipe Institute, Inc. honored four individual members and five member-company projects. Project of the Year winners were recognized for exceptional service and significant achievements involving the use of plastic pipe. PPI is the major trade association representing all segments of the plastic pipe industry.

Municipal and Industrial Division

ISCO Industries, Louisville, KY and McElroy Manufacturing, Inc., Tulsa, Okla.
Wichita Falls, Texas Emergency Water Reuse Project

More than 83 percent of Texas was in severe (D-3) to exceptional (D-5) drought conditions in 2013, and the City of Wichita Falls lost 70 percent of its water supply in the past two years, affecting more than 140,000 people. This project provided an emergency solution – a direct potable reuse pipeline constructed using HDPE pipe that was fused together using McElroy units.

This water reuse project takes purified water, created from the 7 to 10 million gallons of treated wastewater that is normally released into the Wichita River every day, and sends it through a 12-mile HDPE pipeline constructed by ISCO Industries to the Cypress Water Treatment Plant. It then goes through extensive filtration, reverse osmosis and clarification, and is mixed with raw surface water. The 50/50 mixture then goes through another treatment process and finally is supplied to the public.

Building and Construction Division

Viega, LLC, McPherson, Kansas
Sun Valley Ski Resort Outdoor Snow Melting System

For one of the largest snowmelt projects more than 14,800 feet of PEX tubing was installed in a single day, which is more than twice the typical amount. With a total of 60,000 square feet of controlled snowmelt and 32 miles of tubing, this project provides two key aspects to Sun Valley’s business. First is safety for resort guests and employees and second, an economic strategy to operate and control this system while adding value to the bottom line.

ViegaPEX Barrier tubing and Viega PEX Press fittings enabled the Sun Valley resort to install a more efficient snow melting system that saved energy and provided better service to customers while allowing the project to be completed on time.

Conduit Division

Southwire Company, Carrollton, Georgia
Columbia Basin Electric Cooperative Project

The Columbia Basin Electric Cooperative recently replaced some 20 miles of overhead conductor conductor in the Condon, Oregon, ice area with high-density polyethylene Cable-In-Conduit. This CIC installation has helped to reduce maintenance and unplanned outages in an area plagued with fog, ice and other severe weather. Using Southwire Company’s SIMpull Cable-In-Conduit has reduced failures due to damage or weather extremes.

Corrugated Plastic Pipe Division

Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc., Hilliard, Ohio. HD Supply Waterworks, Thomasville, Ga.
Everglades Restoration Project

Large diameter polypropylene pipe was used in a field test project conducted along a 3,000- foot stretch of the levees and canals to determine how best to design and formulate plans for future Everglades Restoration Plan projects. 

This prototype project used 10 runs of 100 linear feet of 60-inch diameter Advanced Drainage Systems' HP storm pipe with vertical lift gates to provide east/west drainage through the levee. The structure has a maximum combined flow of 750 cubic feet per second with velocities up to three centimeters a second to allow for pulse releases.

Energy Piping Systems Division

Flexpipe Systems, Inc., Calgary, Alberta, Canada 
Light Crude Oil Transfer Pipeline, Australia

In 2013 a 170 km (105.6 miles) reinforced thermoplastic pipe pipeline was commissioned in Australia to transport light crude oil from a source location in Queensland to an oil processing facility in South Australia. Able to meet the high pressure requirement of 1,500 psi and temperature of 180 F, the 4-inch diameter line was installed in preference over trucking the liquids, and was the first of its kind to be installed in this area. The RTP line provided a 50 percent savings compared to steel pipe. For this application, Flexpipe's RTP met the need to be both easy and fast to install and also stand up to the technical requirements of Australia’s pipeline standard AS 2885.1 'Pipelines – Gas and Liquid Petroleum'.

PPI Members of the Year
In addition to the PPI Projects of the Year, the association also cited members who have contributed their time and expertise to the advancement and technical documentation of thermoplastic pipe. As voted by their fellow members, the PPI Members of the Year are:

• Greg Bohn, Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc., Hilliard, Ohio, PPI CPPA Division
• Dick Kraft, Endot Industries, Inc. Rockaway, NJ, PPI EPS Division
• Allison Crabtree, Dura-Line Corporation, Knoxville, TN, PPI M&I Division
• Steve Tappan, LyondellBasell Industries, Houston, TX, PPI Conduit Division

For more information, visit the Plastics Pipe Institute website: www.plasticpipe.org.