Document Yr8aeXO9kBvpDwZ08M8X9GB2N

FILE NAME: Asbestos Cement Pipe and Sheet (ACPS) DATE: 1978 Oct 12 DOC#: ACPS025 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Recommended Practices S/S1 MARKETING BULLETIN _ S o 5 - /2 - ,3 CP-78-41 Division Headquarters October 12, 1978 To: ALL PIPE PERSONNEL FIELD CUTTING PROCEDURES FOR TRANSITE PIPE The AWWA and the Association of Asbestos Cement Pipe Producers have recently published booklets entitled "Recommended Work Practices for Asbestos Cement Pipe". The work practices recommended in this booklet were arrived at after careful research in California to determine the dust levels generated from the use of certain field machining tools. The objective was to identify those practices which produce dust levels exceeding the recommendations of the Occupational Safety and Health Agency of the United States. The use of the abrasive disc for cutting asbestos cement pipe is specifically and emphatically not recommended in these booklets. This poses a problem for people who work with our pipe because the abrasive disc makes a fast clean cut. However, continuous heavy exposure to the dust levels produced by this method could be injurious to health It simply makes good sense for us to recommend forcefully 1 to the people who use our pipe that the safest means of handling it be employed. One thing we can do is promote the use of the chain cutter, sometimes referred to as a snap cutter or the squeeze and pop cutter. We have always had reservations about the use of this tool for cutting pressure pipe because it was suspected that the method could cause hairline cracks or other damage to the pipe. But recent tests performed at Long Beach Plant 2 has established that this damage is not done. Hydrostatic tests were performed on pressure pipe after being cut by the chain cutter, and machining. There was no loss of strength due to this cutting method. The tools used for these tests were the Wheeler models shown in the attached literature as suitable for pressure pipe in sizes through 24" (models 5590 and 5591). These models have been redesigned with deeper cutting wheels so that the pipe is cut before the chains are allowed to exert a crushing action on the pipe. This applies even to the thickest pipe. You will be receiving enquiries about this when the AWWA booklet receives wider distribution. The Wheeler chain cutter can be recommended. A list of Canadian outlets is attached. H. R. FRASER