title: Seasonal factors influencing the failure of buried water reticulation pipes.
abstract: While the use of environmental factors in the analysis and prediction of failures of buried reticulation pipes in cold environments has been the focus of extensive work, the same cannot be said for failures occurring on pipes in other (non-freezing) environments. A novel analysis of pipe failures in such an environment is the subject of this paper. An exploratory statistical analysis was undertaken, identifying a peak in failure rates during mid to late summer. This peak was found to correspond to a peak in the rate of circumferential failures, whilst the rate of longitudinal failures remained constant. Investigation into the effect of climate on failure rates revealed that the peak in failure rates occurs due to differential soil movement as the result of shrinkage in expansive soils.
authors: Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
authors: S J F
authors: SJ
authors: Gould
authors: F A
authors: FA
authors: Boulaire
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Burn
authors: X L
authors: XL
authors: Zhao
authors: J K
authors: JK
authors: Kodikara
mesh_terms: D002980:Climate; D004777:Environment; D012498:Sanitary Engineering / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D012621:Seasons; D012987:Soil; D013997:Time Factors; D014881:Water Supply
chemical_list: D012987:Soil