In the United States, there exists thousands of miles of old water tunnels in need of repair. Most of these tunnels were built in the 1940’s & 1950’s and inevitably, are due for repair and replacement. However, water utilities agencies are choosing not to fix them – due to a cost, plant capacity and tunnel dewatering to name a few – and building an alternate bypass tunnel or a new tunnel is cost prohibitive.
A tool was required to help public and private agencies repair economically and efficiently.
Ballard, in collaboration with Kelley Engineered Equipment, invented and built BURT (Ballard Underwater Ring Transporter) as an underwater pipe carrier device which is designed to assist divers in the placement of segmented steel liners to reline existing water tunnels. Tunnels thereby could be repaired in situ, without compromising tunnel integrity or needing to build new infrastructure.
BURT was completed at the end of September 2021 and proceeded to undergo considerable testing at Oregon State University’s O.H. Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory in October that same year. Once testing was complete, BURT arrived on site in Detroit and the team began early assembly and initial testing sequences. Dive crews also ran surface testing to familiarize themselves with all the functions and systems needed to successfully operate BURT in the submerged tunnel environment.
BURT was successfully submerged to begin the first tunnel liner installations of the project in (insert month and year).
APPLICATIONS:
FEATURES:
Ratcheting screw jacks for precise diver control of pipe placement: side shift, rotation, ovality control, and lift.
Hydraulic cylinders assist divers with ring installation.
Vehicle adheres to IMCA D045 guidelines for the safe use of electricity underwater.
On-board hydraulic manifold to power diver hand tools including drills, grinders, saws, and grout pumps.
SUBMERGED HPU
Max 3,000 psi at eight gallons per minute.
Single line 1,148’ capacity electrical umbilical.
SPECIFICATIONS:
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