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Bituminous Fiber Sewer Pipes

Orangeburg pipes were made from wood pulp sealed with hot pitch and were a low-cost alternative to metal pipes for sewer lines. They were lightweight but brittle. While resistant to corrosion, Orangeburg pipes lack strength and typically last around 50 years before failing, often due to deformation allowing tree roots to damage the pipes. They have been removed from building codes due to their susceptibility to failure.

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1K views23 pages

Bituminous Fiber Sewer Pipes

Orangeburg pipes were made from wood pulp sealed with hot pitch and were a low-cost alternative to metal pipes for sewer lines. They were lightweight but brittle. While resistant to corrosion, Orangeburg pipes lack strength and typically last around 50 years before failing, often due to deformation allowing tree roots to damage the pipes. They have been removed from building codes due to their susceptibility to failure.

Uploaded by

Aaron
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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BITUMINOUS

FIBER SEWER
PIPES
(ORANGEBURG
PIPES)
What is an Orangeburg Pipe?
Orangeburg pipes, named not for their color
but for the town where the Fibre Conduit
Company at Orangeburg, New York, the major
pipe manufacturer was located, were used outside
buildings to connect the building drain to septic
systems or in some areas to sewer pipes.
Orangeburg pipes are black, and somewhat
fragile bituminous-coated fiber pipes.
Orangeburg drain & septic field piping, most
widely used in drain piping and septic fields, was
made of ground wood fibers bound with an
adhesive mastic (coal tar), impregnated with coal
tar pitch, and typically looking like black"tarred"
piping.
Older orangeburg pipe will often be delaminating
and may have broken or collapsed.
Orangeburg piping was first used in Boston in
1865.
Orangeburg pipe is bituminous fiber pipe made
from asphalt impregnated layers of wood pulp
and pitch pressed together – essentially tar
paper. Lightweight and brittle, this piping
absorbs moisture and deforms under pressure It
started out as a substitute to cast iron pipe, which
was heavily taxed during WWII to support the
war effort.  
HISTORY
Despite it's name, "Orangeburg pipe" is not
orange in color and it never was, though if you
want to see some orange-colored sewer piping .
The name Orangeburg pipe comes from the
main producer of this product, the Fibre
Conduit Co., in Orangeburg, New York. By the
time the sign advertising "Orangeburg root-
proof pipe" was produced the company also
had facilities in Newark California.
The Fibre Conduit Company was founded
by Stephen Bradley (owner of electric
lighting and power companies) in
Orangeburg NY in 1893.
In its earliest production the steam waste
exhaust from early steam-generated
electrical power plants was used in the
manufacture of orangeburg pipe to heat
and dry it.
Later orangeburg pipe was also used as five-foot
sections of electrical wire conduit, probably a successor
to the much heavier and more costly tar-filled pipes that
carried Edison's earliest Solid Iron Tubing or Steel Pipe
& Pitch Insulated Electrical Cables.
An advantage of asphalt-based conduit piping was its
resistance to corrosion and acids.
The 1939 Worlds' Fair advertisement described wide use
of Orangeburg pipe by that year.
In its earliest production the steam waste exhaust
from early steam-generated electrical power plants
was used in the manufacture of orangeburg pipe to
heat and dry it.
Later orangeburg pipe was also used as
five-foot sections of electrical wire conduit, probably a
successor to the much heavier and more costly tar-
filled pipes that carried Edison's earliest Solid Iron
Tubing or Steel Pipe & Pitch Insulated Electrical
Cables.
Orangeburg pipe was sold for underground
ductwork use with a concrete encasement as well as an
Orangeburg "Nocrete" version was used for electrical
service entrances and similar applications.
HOW LONG DOES ORANGEBURG
PIPE LAST?

ORANGEBURG HAS A LIFE EXPECTANCY


OF APPROXIMATELY 50 YEARS. AFTER 30
YEARS, DEFORMATION MAY BEGIN TO OCCUR.
ALL HOMES WITH ORANGEBURG PIPE ARE PRE-
1972 AND 40 OR MORE YEARS OLD. THAT COULD
PUT YOUR HOUSE AT RISK.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE
ORANGEBURG PIPING BEGINS TO
DETERIORATE?
ONCE THE PRODUCT BEGINS TO BREAK
DOWN HOMEOWNERS CAN EXPECT
FREQUENT CLOGGED LINES, TREE ROOT
INVASION AND EVEN TOTAL PIPE
COLLAPSE. ONCE THE DETERIORATION
PROCESS BEGINS, ORANGEBURG SEWER
PIPES DEFORM QUICKLY, ALLOWING TREE
ROOTS TO BREAK IN TO THEM AND
LITERALLY SHRED THEM.
Types of damages an orangeburg
pipe can faced

 Tree root Damage


 Ground shifting and Sinking
 Chemical Corrosion
List of Manufacturers of Orangeburg Pipe

•Orangeburg drain piping and sewer piping


was not made just by Fiber Conduit.
•American Manufacturing
•American Piping Co.,
•Bermico (Brown Manufacturing)
[advertisement shown below]
•Fibre Conduit Co.
•J.M. Fiber Conduit Co. (Orangeburg NY)
Orangeburge Manufacturing
USAGE
As a fiber conduit :

 Water transmission
 Electrical Conduit
 Dispossal Pipe for oil companies

Improved and became Orangeburg


Pipe :

 Sewer pipe
Orangeburg pipe was made in inside diameters from 2 inches
to 18 inches out of wood pulp sealed with hot pitch. Joints
were made in a similar fashion and, due to the materials
involved, were able to be sealed without the usage of
adhesives. Orangeburg was lightweight, albeit brittle, and
soft enough to be cut with a handsaw. Orangeburg was a low
cost alternative to metal for sewer lines in particular. Lack of
strength causes pipes made of Orangeburg to fail more
frequently than pipes made with other materials. The useful
life for an Orangeburg pipe is about 50 years under ideal
conditions, but has been known to fail in as little as 10 years.
It has been taken off the list of acceptable materials by most
building codes.
It was observed in early usage that Orangeburg
was susceptible to deformation from pressure.
Deformed Orangeburg has been referred to as
"egg-shaped" and is subject to blistering. Thus,
manufacturers recommended bedding the pipes
in sand or pea gravel to prevent rupture.
Advantages
and
Disadvantages
of using
Orangeburg Pipe
Advantages

-Light weight
-Brittleness
-It had a low cost value
-Were able to be sealed without using adhesives
-An advantage of asphalt-based conduit piping
was its resistance to corrosion and acids.
Disadvantages
-Cannot be repaired
-Lack of strength
-Fail more frequently than other pipes
-Once the product begins to breakdown homeowners can
expect frequent clogged lines, tree root invasion and
even total pipe collapse. Once the deterioration process
begins, Orangeburg sewer pipes deform quickly ,
allowing tree roots to break in to them literally.

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