The Value of Profile Wall Flexible Pipes When Raw Material Costs Increase

Over the past 12 months, the entire construction industry has experienced unprecedented raw material increases in both underground piping and vertical building. With some products, raw materials costs have tripled. In addition to these exponentially rising material costs, raw material availability for thermoplastic resin has been limited in many areas of the country throughout 2021.

With raw materials at all-time highs, turning to profile wall flexible pipes make even more sense than ever for project design engineers.

Profile wall pipes, such as corrugated metal pipe, corrugated thermoplastic pipe, and ribbed steel reinforced polyethylene pipe are engineered to save on raw materials while providing the same benefit as solid wall pipe products in gravity flow and low-pressure applications.

For example, check out this cross section of PVC Profile wall pipe. Corrugations on the exterior wall provide strength while the inner liner of PVC provides a smooth interior, maintaining a Manning’s “n” of 0.009, while the general design inherently saves you money.

Wondering about the quality? PVC profile wall sewer meets ASTM F949 standards and has since its approval in 1984. PVC profile pipe has provided value over solid wall pipe for decades from pipe diameters ranging from 4-inch through 36-inch. The pipe is engineered specifically to provide the same pipe stiffness and strength as solid wall PVC while using less thermoplastic resin.

The photo below shows A-2000™ PVC, Profile Wall, Sanitary Sewer Pipe being installed in Central Iowa, with final cover designed to withstand fifty feet (50’).

As an engineer, seeking value for the owner has always been important. When designing piping systems, specifying profile wall flexible pipe as an equal to solid wall pipe, will provide a huge cost savings to the owner and increase pipe availability to the installation contractor.