Rubber Gasket Concrete Pipe Joints… Eliminating the Smoke and Mirrors

Failure of a pipeline is an unpleasant event for all parties. Significant research has been applied to reduce failure risk through improvement in the design and manufacture of the pipe barrel for all types of gasketed concrete gravity and pressure pipe, but little in regard to the joints. Yet joints are the source of a significant proportion of reported concrete pipe installation problems, pipe failures, and subsequent litigation. This paper presents a new model, or paradigm, for specifiers of rubber gasketed concrete pressure and gravity pipe. Discussion of the state-of-the-art in rubber gasketed concrete pipe joints is followed by recommendations for gravity, low- and high-pressure joint design applications, and a challenge to the concrete pipe industry for more research.