The Association

The Wisconsin Concrete Pipe Association was established on October 23, 1933 and has been working with design engineers for over 70 years. The Executive Director, Dennis Siegle P.E., has been with the Association since 1987 and is a Registered Professional Engineer with over 40 years experience.

The Wisconsin Concrete Pipe Association is a technical and educational trade association representing the concrete pipe manufacturers of Wisconsin. The members manufacture reinforced concrete storm sewer pipe, reinforced concrete sanitary sewer pipe, non-reinforced concrete sanitary sewer pipe, non-reinforced concrete culvert pipe, manholes, reinforced concrete boxes, reinforced concrete elliptical pipe, reinforced concrete arch pipe and a variety of precast concrete connectors. 

The Association sponsors research projects, technical activities and educational seminars. The Association provides technical support to it's members and represents the members in its work with government officials and agencies and the design consultant industry.

The Product

Concrete pipe has long been recognized by specifiers as the most dependable, durable and strongest product available for culverts, storm sewer and sanitary sewer pipe.

The State of Wisconsin Department of Transportation Facilities Development Manual Procedures 13-1-15 states: "Reinforced concrete pipe is required for cross drains under major highways because it is a proven and dependable material that is not likely to need replacement because of corrosion or substandard installation. Replacement of culvert pipe under a major highway would not only be costly but also disruptive to the traveling public."

On October 31, 1997, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers adopted their engineering manual for conduits, culverts and pipes. Chapter 1 gives concrete pipe a service life between 70 and 100 years. Corrugated steel pipe, aluminum pipe and plastic pipes are given a service life of not greater than 50 years.

The capacity of reinforced concrete pipe has been shown by numerous studies to be as good as any other smooth wall material available. Some studies have shown that the lab numbers for concrete pipe for Mannings "n" to be .009 to .010. Many engineers use a .012 to .013 Mannings "n" to account for field conditions, when doing capacity studies. Non-engineers promoting new products do not understand these fundamental engineering factors of safety and promote their product based on lab values. Concrete pipe manufacturers have always understood the safety and dependability of reinforced concrete pipe and support the design engineers when recommending safety factors.

Design software is available for reinforced concrete pipe (SIDD) for pre-cast concrete boxes (Boxcar) and for cost analysis of pipe installations (Life Cost). Recent studies have shown that the concrete pipe software (SIDD) is very dependable and accurate when analyzing soil properties, but that software for flexible pipe does not give accurate readings.

The joints in reinforced concrete pipe are dependable and of a very high strength compared to other products. Differential deflection experienced by polyvinyl chloride pipe (PVC), high density polyethylene pipe (HDPE), and metal pipe is not found in rigid concrete pipe joints and with the use of proper gasketing material can insure a dependable system without fear of infiltration or exfiltration from the sewer system.