PPI honors members and projects

IRVING, TEXAS — At its recent annual membership meeting with record-setting attendance, the Plastics Pipe Institute, Inc. (PPI) honored four individual members and five member-company projects. Winners were recognized for exceptional service and significant achievements involving the use of polyethylene (PE) pipe.

Project award winners are:

Building & Construction Division: Uponor, Inc., Apple Valley, Minn.; Pier 15 Exploratorium — San Francisco’s new Pier 15 Exploratorium will host more than 1 million visitors annually as a cultural and science learning center. Formerly a vacant eyesore, the recent renovation included a PEX-based radiant heating and cooling system. It is now a net-zero energy and a net-zero carbon, 330,000-square-foot facility with LEED-Gold certification.

Conduit Division: Endot Industries, Inc., Rockaway, N.J.; Beebe Wind Farm Project — One of the newest wind power operations, the Beebe Wind Farm in Breckenridge, Mich., has 34 turbines operational with another 16 coming on-stream in 2013. Use of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) conduit pipe to house the power cables is speeding the installation process, achieving significant cost savings, and providing long life without the need for cathodic protection, which would have been required if metal pipe was used. Installation is being done by both cut-and-cover and horizontal directional drilling (HDD).

Corrugated Plastic Pipe Division: Prinsco, Inc., Willmar, Minn.; Hillcrest Knoll Park Project — More than 2,500 feet of 60-inch-diameter corrugated HDPE pipe was used to construct a retention system capable of storing 85,000 cubic feet of water in order to convert a swampy flooded area into a park and public green space. The Hillcrest Knoll Park in St. Paul, Minn., is a now a benchmark for drainage retention Best Management Practices.

Energy Piping Systems Division: FlexSteel Pipeline Technologies, Inc., Houston; High Pressure Water Transfer Line — Eight-inch-diameter, flexible, steel-reinforced polyethylene pipe was used for a 17,000-foot run to bring water to a drilling site in north central Pennsylvania. Operating pressure was 1,500 psi. Typically, steel pipe would have been specified. The pipe — using PE 4710 for the internal liner and external sheath — came in 600-foot coils, which was not possible with steel pipe. This greatly increased the integrity of the pipeline, reduced installed cost, and was installed in minimally wide trenches at a rate of one-third the time of steel pipe.

Municipal & Industrial Division: Performance Pipe, a division of Chevron Phillips Chemical Company, Plano, Texas, and ISCO Industries, Louisville, Ky.; San Antonio Water System — Originally designed to use steel and ductile iron pipe, this water pipeline extension for the San Antonio Water System (SAWS) used 328 truckloads of PE 4710 pipe that totaled about 11 million pounds. There were 122,000 feet of pipe, making it the largest HDPE water pipe project in North America. This new pipeline is bringing water from an aquifer to the SAWS potable water distribution system.

The PPI Members of the Year are:
• Brian Chestnut, Lane Enterprises, Inc., Camp Hill, Pa., PPI CPPA Division;
• Dane Chang, Dow Chemical Company, Freeport, Texas, PPI EPS Division;
• Wes Long, Performance Pipe, Inc., a division of Chevron Phillips Chemical Company, Plano, Texas, PPI M&I Division; and
• George Zagorski, Blue Diamond Industries, LLC, Lexington, Ky., PPI B&C Division.

"We had 316 attending from our membership roster, which is a record for our 60-year-old organization," stated Tony Radoszewski, executive director of the PPI. "Attendance has been growing steadily during the past five years for both our spring and fall meetings. This can be attributed to many factors, the key ones being the growth in use of plastic pipe, our agenda and guest speakers, plus the technical sessions conducted by each division.

"The award program is also one of the highlights because it is the recognition of one’s peers. Each nominated member and project is reviewed and voted upon by each division management committee. That is why it is so significant to receive either the Project of the Year or Member of the Year award."

For more information, visit the Plastics Pipe Institute website at www.plasticpipe.org.