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Ensuring the Quality and Reliability of Concrete Pressure Pipe
A section of 144-inch concrete pressure pipe floated for installation in Lake Mead’s deepwater intake.
T
he American Concrete Pressure Pipe Association (ACPPA) does research, outreach, and advocacy to promote the use of concrete pressure pipe and to promote the availability of state-of-the-art technical knowledge among its member companies, consultants, and utilities. Over the past several decades, its research has answered many pressing questions about different materials’ potential for corrosion and deterioration and how to make them more resilient. Spreading and implementing the results of this research has provided real advances in the longevity and reliability of U.S. infrastructure. In this interview, Richard Mueller, P.E., president and chief executive officer of the ACPPA, speaks with Municipal Water Leader about the work of the association and his vision for the future. Municipal Water Leader: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position.
32 | MUNICIPAL WATER LEADER
Municipal Water Leader: Please tell us about the ACPPA and its history. Richard Mueller: The ACPPA has been around for about 70 years. Four basic kinds of concrete pressure pipes are manufactured today: two types of reinforced concrete pipe, one with a cylinder and one without; prestressed concrete pipe; and bar-wrapped concrete pipe. The latter two, prestressed concrete pipe and bar-wrapped concrete pipe, are the most common types of concrete pressure pipe sold today. The purpose of the association is to promote the use of concrete pressure pipe and maintain customers’ and clients’ access to technical information. Municipal Water Leader: Who are the association’s member agencies? Richard Mueller: We have four members: Decast and Forterra Pipe in Canada and Thompson Pipe GroupPressure and Northwest Pipe in the United States. We also have an associate member, Rangeline, which does field work and is experienced in modifying, tapping, and repairing concrete pressure pipelines.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE ACPPA.
Richard Mueller: I started in the concrete pressure pipe business as a product engineer with Gifford Hill American in 1977. I did design work and oversaw quality control. I eventually became vice president of engineering and marketing. While I was in that position, Gifford Hill American, which was half-owned by Ameron and half-owned by what used to be Gifford Hill and had been bought out by Hansen, was totally consolidated under the Hansen name. With the change of ownership, I left the company. I worked for myself for a while doing structural evaluations and foundation design and then worked as a lobbyist for transportation infrastructure for about a year and a half. Then Ameron was beginning to develop fiberglass pipes for municipal applications and wanted to know if I would be interested in participating in that. I went to work on the fiberglass side of Ameron for about a year and then moved over
to be in charge of the production of concrete and steel pipe and wind towers. I was vice president of manufacturing for a bit and later became the president of Ameron Water Transmission Group. Then Ameron was purchased by National Oilwell Varco. I survived under that regime for about a year, and then they decided they wanted their own people. I left and wasn’t sure that I was going to work for anybody else, but then the president of the ACPPA left and the association members asked me to come on board. I’ve been here for almost 6 years.
