Civil Engineering June 2022 | Vol 30 No 5

Civil Engineering June 2022 5 (PN is the working pressure in bar) to 630 PN25, with the M-OR-P3136 system in 2010. Then, in 2013 they increased to 800 PN20 with the M-OR-P3180 system, then to 1000 PN16 in 2020, and to 1200 PN16 with the M-OR-P5012 system in 2021. Currently, the complete range of pipe diameters is available up to PN25. These are exciting developments for the thermoplastic pipe industry, enabling it to compete in the large diameter high pressure pipe market that was previously beyond its capability. These innovations and the latest high technology polymers have enabled the service life of TOM® 500 PVC-O thermo- plastic pipes to be greater than 100 years – which is now the duration demanded by owners and consultants. This is more than twice the ISO requirement that thermo- plastic pipes’ design service life shall not be less than 50 years, which is 438 000 hours on the polymer’s creep rupture regression curve shown in Figure 1. This property of TOM® 500 PVC-O thermoplastic pipes is one of the corner- stones of Sizabantu’s success, together with its industry expertise, customer service culture and local manufacturing facility. These attributes have also enabled Sizabantu to grow its export business into Africa with one of its largest irrigation schemes in Angola serving as an example of success in this market. Sizabantu illustrates that despite the competitive nature of the market, it is succeeding and proves an axiom of today’s world – if you are standing still, you are probably going backwards. WHY CHOOSE PVC? PVC pipe technology has improved substan- tially and is continuing to improve, giving the pipeline industry proven materials to use for large diameter, high-pressure bulk supply pipelines – a market historically dominated by steel and ductile iron. PVC-O pipes are lightweight, have negligible friction increase over time, do not corrode, do not require expensive cathodic protection, give labour intensive emerging contractors equal opportunity to compete, have extremely high impact strength, low creep, low celerity and extremely low embedded energy. As national government, metros, municipalities, and local authorities strive to provide services to more people with limited funding, the advantages of using TOM® 500 PVC-O thermoplastic pipes and fittings become self-evident. The future prospects appear to be promising for the product. More than 4 km of 1 000 mm OD PN16 pipe were already supplied and installed in Europe in 2021 and the first 1 000 m OD pipes are expected to be supplied in South Africa in 2022. This will be another significant milestone for the South African thermoplastic pipe industry. For more information www.sizabantu.com proudly@sizabantu.com Message from the CEO The past 20 years has been a journey filled with fun and interesting challenges. This wonderful journey has been made possible by the enthusiastic, entrepreneurial character that has encapsulated the spirit of our amazing team. The road we have travelled was not without its challenges, but with the positive competitive nature of our management and staff we managed to scale each mountain that was in our way. It has been an absolute pleasure serving with our adopted family and may we take this opportunity to thank the Good Lord for His grace and many blessings. May we all look forward to the next 20 years of this exciting journey! To our dear loyal customers and suppliers, thank you for travelling this long road with us over the past 20 years. We have been truly privileged to be included as part of your supply team. Without your success and support, we would have surely stumbled along the way. We look forward to continuing our journey with you, into a bright new future. Don Coleman CEO Sizabantu Piping Systems Don Coleman, CEO, Sizabantu Piping Systems 100 10 1 Rupture stress (MPa) Time (hours) 10 000 000 1 000 000 100 000 10 000 1 000 100 10 1 Figure 1 20°C creep rupture regression curves PVC-O 500 Log. (PVC-O 500) PVC-U & M Log. (PVC-U & M) PE 100 Log. (PE 100) y = –1.777ln(x) + 78.083 y = –1.036ln(x) + 38.475 y = –0.383ln(x) + 14.94 Project completed by Sizabantu Exports in the west coast of Africa