Trenchless Project on the Rails with HOBAS GRP Pipes

For safety reasons, the Hungarian public railway company MÁV has special requirements for structures to be installed beneath railways. The only traditional pipe solution and material used to be double steel pipes with grouted annular space.

In 2002, HOBAS obtained the individual permit from MÁV for a jacking project in Aszófő with 18 meters De 820 (SN 32000, PN 1 pipes). HOBAS Pipes convinced the railway company in terms of the material’s structural properties, its resistance to stray current corrosion, long lifetime and easy installation. As a result of this successful first project and after thorough tests and calculations MÁV granted HOBAS a general permit for railyway projects in 2010. Numerous projects have been successfully implemented ever since.

The creek Ördögárok, also known as Devil’s Ditch, leads rain water from the Buda Mountains into the Danube in Budapest. While the creek flows freely in the upper part of the mountains, it runs through a culvert midway down. In Hűvösvölgyi street in Budapest, this culvert passes underneath a tramline. When it needed to be replaced in 2007, the contractor opted for trenchless installation with HOBAS Pipes to keep the impact on the environment and traffic as low as possible and to benefit from the GRP material’s excellent features. 30 meters of pipe De 1720 mm, SN 32000 were jacked beneath the tramline – the project was completed to the contractor’s utmost satisfaction.