Pipe seals for natural gas transmission

GRTgaz builds, maintains and develops the major part of the high pressure transmission grid for natural gas in France. When GRTgaz had to rebuild two manholes at the Alfortville interconnection station outside Paris, they turned to Roxtec for a solution that was able to meet the project requirements.

The mission of GRTgaz includes a promise of supplying natural gas to their customers in the best possible way with regards to safety, reliability and costs, all year round. But how should they do to ensure the pipe transit tightness in the two manholes to rebuild and at the same time keep them operating?

Help with design and onsite

Loïc Boutillier, technical maintenance manager of GRTgaz in the Val de Seine region, found Roxtec on the Internet, and Christophe Laroche of Roxtec France provided help with the design and through visits onsite. GRTgaz specified Roxtec.

"We needed openable pipe transit solutions to be able to tear down and rebuild the walls without touching the existing natural gas pipes or cutting the natural gas supply. We managed to do all the sealing work in one day!" says Loïc Boutillier.

Preventing water leakage

Roxtec seals were installed around the existing pipes with outer diameters of 319 and 612 mm, efficiently sealing the openings in the concrete walls.

The seals are certified for water-tightness.

"We cannot have water entering, because we regularly step down to perform maintenance and to test the quality of the natural gas," says Dominique Guindeuil, Area Manager of GRTgaz in the Val de Seine region.