The Whangarei District Council did a repair job at Limeburners bridge, using a 450mm Hermetica clamp. A Digger was doing some work in the area, when his digger bucket caught the edge of the Gibault coupler. The Gibault on this pipe was originally installed in 1974. It is noted that this is a very narrow Gibault coupler. The Downer staff also mentioned that there was a height difference between the two pipes, of about 25mm. So it is amazing that the narrow Gibault was holding on at all.
The Hermetica clamp, which was installed by Matt Anderson from Downer, proved successful in producing a watertight connection between the two spiral welded steel pipes.
“If we had used regular Gibaults, we would have had to dig up a longer length, cut out a section, and install two new couplings. This made the job quicker and easier”.
-Matt
