PIPE-SOIL INTERACTION ANALYSIS OF JOINTED WATER MAINS

Water mains are important lifelines of modern urban infrastructure. Ho wever, in most developed countries; the average life of these cast or ductile iron pipes approaches 50-75 years. In recent years, the disrup tion of water services as a consequence of water main breaks is on the rise in most Canadian cities. This paper describes the development of a simplified Winkler model to simulate the responses of a jointed wat er main subjected to differential temperature change and water pressur e. The simplified Winkler model accounts for axial and radial restrain ts offered by the surrounding soil. In spite of its simplicity, the Wi nkler model is able to predict the overall response of strains and str esses, which confirms satisfactorily some of heuristic and documented observations on water main breaks.