Hospital

HOSPITAL CALLS FOR A SECOND OPINION

When the continual wear and tear on a hospital’s aging pipes began to take its toll, they turned to NuFlow Certified Contractor for a second opinion.

A hospital in Florida had undergone multiple expansions to keep up with heavy demand, but the speed of expansion didn’t allow for proper maintenance of their existing pipe infrastructure. After a hurricane swept through the area they began carrying an even heavier load than usual and the wear and tear on the building’s aging pipes began to take its toll.

Drainage backups and pipe failures were becoming common disruptions to the medical staff and maintenance team. The hospital’s engineering partner initially considered replacing the aging pipes. But pipe replacement risked contamination from construction dust and debris into sensitive areas of the hospital. In addition, they would have to shut down sections of the hospital for multiple phases. The project would likely take years to complete, so they decided to look into pipe lining as an alternative.

Pipe lining not only provided them with the long-term solution that they needed to restore their pipes, but it allowed them to remain open, avoid any major construction damage, and greatly reduce the possibility of contamination of sensitive areas of the buildings. However, the aging pipes were not their only challenge. Because of the multiple phases of expansion, the engineers did not have a complete blueprint map of the hospital’s piping system.

They would be going into the system nearly blind to clean and line the pipes. The engineering team began the pipe lining project with a competitive lining company in the area and called a NuFlow Certified Contractor to get a secondary bid on the project. The NuFlow contractor created a thorough plan for the project, taking into consideration all of the special needs for the hospital staff and their patients, as well as how to tackle the unknown pipe layout. The NuFlow contractor’s bid for the project was actually slightly higher
than their competitor. But the experience of NuFlow, a clear understanding of the situation, and extremely detailed production plan put them a step ahead of the competition and they were awarded the project.

The contractor video inspected, cleaned, mapped, and rehabilitated over 3,000 linear feet of cast iron pipes in and under the facility. The complex project only took 6 months to complete and did not require any extended shutdowns at the hospital, allowing the medical staff to continue doing what they do best, taking care of people.

NuFlow Lines Hard-to-Access Pipes in Hospital

When the VA Long Beach Hospital realized that its aged pipes were failing, closing down a portion of the hospital to replace them was not an option. Even though some of the 2” failing pipes are impossible to access, NuFlow successfully cleaned and lined them – something that another company could not have done.

Project: Rehabilitate several thousand feet of failing sanitary sewer lines without having to cause destruction to the building or inconvenience the hospital’s normal operations.

Customer: Veterans Affairs Long Beach Healthcare System serves veterans throughout Southern California.

Site: VA Hospital Long Beach, located in Long Beach, California, is 11 stories high and offers a wide array of medical services for Southern Californian veterans. Parts of the hospital date back to the WWII era.

System: Aged cast iron sanitary sewer pipes with diameters of 1.5” through 6” located below the hospital’s kitchen, in the basement, in between floors, in walls, and suspended from the ceilings in mechanical rooms, making them a challenge to access. Some of the pipes are over 70 years old.

Situation: Several thousand feet of sanitary drain pipes experienced backups and cracks, as a result of age and corrosion. Some of the sewer lines are located above drop-ceilings, where several mechanical service lines (electrical, potable plumbing, cable, HVAC lines, etc.) run below them, which makes the sewer pipes impossible to access without disconnecting the other lines. A traditional re-pipe, if possible, would have been a nightmare for the customer.

Solution: NuFlow’s trenchless pipe lining technology was the only solution for the customer. Skilled technicians successfully installed our Pull-in-Place structural liner by solely using existing access points, which preserved the building and prevented inconvenience for both hospital employees and patients. Furthermore, we did not have to interrupt the other mechanical service lines. NuFlow successfully removed the corrosion in the sanitary lines, installed our patented structural drain liner, and left it to cure in place, creating a new protective pipe within the original pipe. The old cracks are now covered, so future failures are avoided.

Since the job site was within a veterans’ hospital, NuFlow’s technicians had to be extremely conscientious of patient care. Cleaning and lining small diameter sanitary pipes inside the building also made the job challenging. However, NuFlow has unique technologies and capabilities well suited to this type of project. The job was completed with precise planning to ensure the rehabilitation would be successful and disruption would be minimized.

NuFlow has the innovative technology and skilled professionals to create the ideal, no-dig solution for your pipe system dilemmas. Whether your property is old or new, residential, commercial, industrial, or municipal, we can design a cost-effective, no-mess solution that meets your specific needs.

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