Plowing in

The plowing describes a technique by which pipes can be laid and pipes in the ground without digging up long distances to have.

Construction equipment pulls a special “ plow ”, the laying plow , to achieve this. This is thin on the upper side so that it plows through the soil without resistance. At the bottom it widens so that it creates a tunnel by displacing and compacting the soil there. The desired pipe or line (or several) is let into this. Depending on the plow attachment, the tubes are also pulled through the hole later. Therefore, a small piece of trench only needs to be dug every few hundred meters. This saves time and money and enables such work to be carried out without major damage to cultivated land .

The process appeared in Germany in the 1960s in connection with the development of flexible pipe materials, but was initially considered to be out of the state of the art and was initially rejected by specialist offices and authorities. The process was further developed in the 1990s, however, in order to reduce the considerable share of the earthworks involved in laying cables and pipes (up to 70% of the costs).

literature

• G. Walther: Plowing in ductile iron pipes - practical report . In: Specialist seminar on sewers and pipes made of ductile iron pipes November 25, 1999 . Institute for Pipeline Construction at the Oldenburg University of Applied Sciences, 1999.
• G. Walther, FW Günthert: Documentation of cost-effective construction of drinking water pipes - instructions for milling and plowing in rural areas . Ed .: University of the Federal Armed Forces Munich & Bavarian State Office for Water Management, Munich. 1999.
• University of the Federal Armed Forces Munich, Institute for Water Management and Bavarian State Office for Water Management (Ed.): Inexpensive construction of drinking water pipes - instructions for milling and plowing in rural areas .