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Kenway:
wiring pipes and decking bridges
Maine
Science and Technology Foundation
July 18, 2001
AUGUSTA - What makes double-walled pipes and crane mats
exciting for Kenway Corporation? Innovative composite
materials and the potential for lucrative new product
lines.
"If
these are successful, they'll generate new business
for the company as well as create new jobs," said Kenway
president Ken Priest. Development of both products is
supported by grants from the Maine Technology Institute.
Priest
said the double-walled pipes are designed for use at
petrochemical plants and paper mills and provide secondary
containment of hazardous materials. The pipes include
a thick inner layer made of a corrosion-resistant combination
of vinyl ester resin and glass fibers, plus a thinner
outside pipe to catch spills, said Priest.
Kenway's
pipes provide an extra layer of protection thanks to
embedded fiber optic sensors that would notify the facility
of a spill or defect. Priest said Kenway tested the
sensor system in prototype pipes by running water through
them then drilling holes. It was "more or less a real-life
test," he said, adding that the system worked.
About
20 feet of Kenway double-walled pipes have been planted
in the ground at a trial site in an Old Town paper mill;
the sensors will be wired in August. Priest said Kenway
has a patent pending for the pipe technology and is
researching market opportunities.
Another
Kenway product - a crane mat that can double as a roadway
over soft ground - is also in development. Crane mats
are placed under outrigger feet that support construction
cranes, and Priest said a prototype built at the Advanced
Engineered Wood Composites Center at the University
of Maine has been used successfully at a Cianbro site
in Bangor.
Priest
said the crane mats are fabricated from wood, resins
and glass fibers in a combination patented by UMaine.
Chip board made of low-grade wood species from Maine
are laminated, then strengthened with resin and glass
fibers that also help the material withstand severe
weather. Priest said the mats range in size from five
by five feet to four by thirty feet.
Kenway's
mats will be installed this summer as deck material
for a new bridge between Union and Washington. The collaboration
between Kenway, UMaine and the Maine Department of Transportation
is partially funded by the federal government's Innovative
Bridge Research and Construction Project.
Priest
said his father founded Kenway in 1947 as a wooden boat
company. Kenway moved away from wood toward fiberglass
in the mid-1960s and has evolved into a manufacturer
of process piping for pulp and paper, wastewater treatment
and petrochemical facilities. The company employs around
35 people and sells products throughout New England,
New York, and Pennsylvania.
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