Journal

Infrastructure and Built Environment

Infrastruktur dan Lingkungan Binaan Vol. IV No. 2, December 2008

Calculation of Concrete Ballast Requirement

for Sub-Sea HDPE Pipeline
Krisnaldi Idris1

ABSTRACT

Marine application of High-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipeline has been used increasing for both industrial and
municipal needs, selection of this material especially based on its superiority to corrosion, its wear resistant
properties, and simple construction method. The light weight material requires ballast weigh to restrain the pipe
against buoyancy and hydrodynamic forces. Practical recommendation for concrete ballast dimensional selection and
its installation requirement had been proposed on several handbook or catalog. However, for important marine
application, concrete ballast selection should be determined based on applied hydrodynamic loads, on both pipeline
and the concrete ballast. This study applied current hydrodynamic loading calculation method for “small” structure
which is adapted to HDPE pipeline and concrete ballast physical condition, during installation and operation.
Recommended practice and requirements, for oil and gas sub-sea pipelines had been studied, thus, hydrodynamic
force calculation is conducted based on selected applicable wave theory, hydrodynamic coefficient for pipeline and
concrete ballast are selected based on their physical condition. The required concrete ballasts are computed for four
load cases. An iterative procedure must be developed to considered hydrodynamic loads on both, pipeline and
concrete ballast. Computation results show importance of selecting a proper concrete ballast weight.

Key words: HDPE pipeline, on bottom stability

I. INTRODUCTION Table 1
Typical properties of HDPE
High-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipeline has been
General Property Value Unit
used for both industrial and municipal applications,
especially due to its corrosion free characteristic and Specific gravity 950 – 965 kg/m3
its wear resistance ability. Tensile Strength at yield 18 – 24 kg/cm2
Elongation at break >600 %
Properties of HDPE pipe have made it very well Modulus of Elasticity 400 – 1000 N/mm2
suited for marine applications. Since HDPE pipes
have a density lower than water, they must be weighed
down to compensate for buoyancy force and to
withstand lateral hydrodynamic forces. Units of
concrete ballast are regularly used as a weigh, units
are designed symmetric to the centre of the pipe and
the pipeline will be placed approximately one-quarter HDPE pipe
of its diameter above the sea bottom, as illustrated on
Figure 1.
Concrete Ballast Unit
Increasing application of HDPE pipe in marine
environment require adequate concrete weight design HDPE pipe
which is able to withstand hydrodynamic force (due to
wave and current) and ensure vertical stability and Concrete Ballast Unit
lateral stability of the line.
Table 1 shows several important properties of HDPE Figure 1
material. HDPE pipeline and concrete ballast units

1
Research Groups of Ocean Engineering, Faculty Civil and Environmental Engineering, Institut Teknologi Bandung,
Lab. Tek. VI 3rd Floor, Jl. Ganesa No. 10 Bandung, 40132, e-mail: idrisk@ocean.itb.ac.id
160 Krisnaldi Idris