Welcome to John’s Blog. Answers to frequently asked questions are periodically posted here. The objective is to share information about PVC pipe with readers as well as with utilities, design engineers and pipe installers. The blog provides the latest information on PVC pipe design, installation, and application for water and wastewater infrastructure projects.
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John Houle: Senior Technical Consultant, PVC Pipe Industry
John Houle holds a Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Missouri and an MBA from the University of Oregon. He has more than 25 years of experience in the plastic pipe industry in applications engineering, market development, forensic analysis, technical writing, and standards development.
In 1980 ASTM published its F679 standard for solid-wall PVC pipe and fittings. The standard’s design philosophy was to allow two wall thickness options (called “T1” and “T2”) based on two values for the PVC material’s modulus of elasticity. In 2006 this design method was changed. Gone are the “T1” and “T2” wall designations. Instead the new system provides a minimum wall thickness table combined with minimum pipe stiffness values – the pipe manufacturer is now able to provide the targeted pipe stiffness with any combination of wall thickness and modulus of elasticity (as long as material cell class and minimum wall thickness requirements are met). Click here for my Tech Brief on this subject. The bottom line: project specifications that call out “T1” or “T2” walls are outdated – these references have been obsolete for about eight years
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