A 50-Year Partnership Leads To Successful HDD Installation Of 48-Inch AMERICAN SpiralWeld Pipe

When the Grand Strand Water and Sewer Authority engaged Ruby-Collins, Inc. to expand and upgrade its water and sewer system, Ruby-Collins President and CEO Scott Cline knew the job would be challenging – beginning with the project’s scale. A key feature in the upgrade was the installation of a 48-inch spiral-welded steel pipe water main that was coated in polyurethane and five miles long.

Because the pipe would pass under the Waccamaw River, 2,500 feet of the large diameter pipe would be installed using Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD). And because the line would pass through the federally protected Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge on both sides of the river, the contractor would have to build a one-mile temporary roadway through the wetlands.

Moreover, for Ruby-Collins, the specification of spiral-welded steel pipe for the water main was a first. “There have not been a lot of steel pipe projects in the Carolinas,” Cline said. “This was our first spiral-welded steel pipe project.”

In light of the many challenges, Cline said one decision was easy – choosing AMERICAN’s 48-inch spiral-welded steel pipe. “We’ve partnered with AMERICAN for 50 years using ductile iron pipe, and it made sense to work with AMERICAN for our first steel job. We had an existing comfort level with them.”