1. When do we need mechanical protection for onshore pipelines?
2. What are the main criteria one should use when choosing the mechanical protection system for an onshore pipeline?
3. What is Rock Jacket®?
4. Is Rock Jacket® a new product?
5. What projects have been completed using Rock Jacket®?
6. Is Rock Jacket® available globally?
7. How long does it take to mobilize a Rock Jacket® mobile plant closer to the project site?
8. Is the pipe coated with Rock Jacket® bendable?
9. Is Rock Jacket® compatible with the most common anti-corrosion coatings?
10. Is Rock Jacket® shielding the cathodic protection of the pipeline?
11. Is Rock Jacket® applied in different thicknesses?
12. Is Rock Jacket® more expensive than other mechanical protection systems – sand padding, select backfill, rock shield materials?
13. Does the additional weight of Rock Jacket® make it more expensive than the other mechanical protection systems because of the additional freight costs?
14. What is the additional weight that Rock Jacket® adds to the steel pipe?
15. Why should I add Rock Jacket® as an extra layer of coating and incur additional costs when I can use mechanical protection systems that can be installed in the field – such as sand bedding and padding, select backfill of rock shield type of materials?
16. What is the Rock Jacket® Calculator?
17. What is the Total Installed Cost (TIC) of a mechanical protection system?
18. What is the price of Rock Jacket®?
19. What about the pipe joint protection for Rock Jacket® coated pipes?
20. I am an onshore pipeline design engineer - What are the main benefits of Rock Jacket® for me?
21. I am an onshore pipeline owner - what are the main benefits of Rock Jacket® for me?
22. I am an onshore pipeline contractor - what are the main benefits of Rock Jacket® for me?
23. What are the environmental benefits of Rock Jacket® compared to the other mechanical protection systems?

The anticorrosion pipe coating and the steel pipe have to be protected against mechanical damage:

• During transportation of the pipe  to the right-of-way
• During pipe handling (loading, unloading, stringing)
• During pipeline installation (lowering in and backfilling), especially in rocky terrain and mountain areas, on steep slopes, at river and road crossings and for horizontal directional drilling (HDD) projects
• During entire pipeline service life

1. Technical Performance Criteria
   - Impact resistance during backfill
   - Resistance to penetration (from trench bottom)
   - No cathodic  protection shielding
   - No pipe or AC coating damage during transportation, handling
   - Pipe and pipe coating integrity during entire pipeline service life
2. Design and Constructability Criteria
   - Type of trench material, type of terrain and climatic conditions
   - ROW space (preparation/restoration)
   - Trenching
   - Impact on pipe installation crews – additional manpower or equipment needed
   - Pipe bending
   - Joint protection
3. Economic Criteria
   - Availability
   - Total installed cost (material supply cost and direct/ indirect installation costs)
   - Total installation time
   - Future potential remediation/restoration costs
4. Environmental Criteria
   - Minimum impact on the ROW and surrounding environment during installation and service life

Rock Jacket® is a coating system that was developed to offer excellent mechanical protection to the anti-corrosion coating and the steel pipe of onshore pipelines in any type of terrain, trench material and climate with the lowest total installed cost, installation time and environmental impact in the industry. Rock Jacket® is a plant applied reinforced concrete pipe coating developed for rocky terrain, rough terrain configurations such as steep slopes and for road and river crossings. It has been designed to be buried directly in blasted out rock trenches without the use of other costly protective products and is ideal for both small and large diameter pipelines.

For more information, please refer to the Rock Jacket® product datasheet available on our website or contact a Bredero Shaw representative.

No. Hundreds of onshore pipeline mechanical protection projects in the Americas and the Pacific Region have been protected with Rock Jacket® since 1984. However, Rock Jacket had some limitations in the past:  maximum pipe diameter usually available was 609 mm (24”) and it was supplied only from two fixed facilities in Canada and Australia.

In order to make Rock Jacket® available to more customers, Bredero Shaw has worked intensively and added some new features to the system:

• Maximum pipe diameter available is now 914 mm (36”) and the company is working to make it available for the largest diameters existing in the market.
• Global availability – Rock Jacket® can now be applied in the Bredero Shaw unique portable plants that can be mobilized anywhere in the world in a short period of time to improve the overall project economics.

Please refer to the Rock Jacket® product experience sheet on our website or contact Bredero Shaw for further details.

Yes, Rock Jacket® is available worldwide. Beside its strategically located fixed plants, Bredero Shaw has unique portable plants that can apply the Rock Jacket® coating and can be mobilized in a short period of time to meet specific project requirements and to significantly reduce pipe transportation and handling costs. Plant mobilization near the pipeline right-of-way can improve the overall economics of the project and qualify for in-country content requirements.

Beside the time necessary for transport to the project site, the Bredero Shaw mobile plants can be set up and ready for Rock Jacket® application in approximately two weeks.

Rock Jacket® coated pipes are bendable to the requirements of all standard construction specifications without any non-standard equipment or additional effort on the contractor’s side other than the use of oversized shoes and die on the bending machines for large diameters. Rock Jacket® has a bending relief zone – spiral OD grooves - with a curing retardant solution applied that allow the bending of the pipe. Rock Jacket® coated pipe can be bent at 1.5° per pipe diameter permanent deflection for D/t ratios under 80, 1.2° per pipe diameter for D/t ratios between 80 and 100 and 1.0° per pipe diameter for D/t ratios over 100. For all pipes with 560 mm (22”) OD or smaller, 1.5° per pipe diameter is recommended for all wall thicknesses.

Rock Jacket® is fully compatible with the most commonly used anti-corrosion pipeline coatings. Thus, it can be applied over coatings such as fusion bond epoxy, three layer PE/PP systems and asphalt enamel.

Rock Jacket® does not shield the cathodic protection system of the pipeline. This property has been proven by multiple laboratory and field tests. Please ask a Bredero Shaw representative to provide you with some of these test results.

Rock Jacket is applied in a standard 25 mm (1 inch) thickness. Please contact Bredero Shaw for other customized thicknesses.

Most often Rock Jacket® has a lower Total Installed Cost (TIC) than the competing mechanical protection systems. You can get a final answer by comparing the different alternative products with the Rock Jacket® Calculator. Please contact Bredero Shaw for details.

No, because the additional freight costs are going to be more than offset by the cost reductions offered by Rock Jacket®. Some examples of cost reductions include: no bedding/padding required, no jeeping and AC coating repairs needed prior to lower-in, no ROW over-excavation for bedding, no separators or pads needed during transportation and handling, no extra labor costs, no costs with sand truck or other specialized equipment, no surplus trench spoil material disposal costs.

We recommend using the Rock Jacket® Calculator with the help of a Bredero Shaw representative in order to compare the Total Installed Cost (TIC) of the different mechanical protection systems available and decide which one offers the best cost/benefit structure for your needs.

Please ask a Bredero Shaw representative to provide you with the Rock Jacket® Pipe Weight table and to help you using it.

Unlike the mechanical protection systems applied in the field, Rock Jacket® will protect your pipe and anti-corrosion coating during the transportation to the pipeline installation site, as well as during the pipe handling (loading, unloading, stringing). This will avoid you the anti-corrosion coating repair costs, as well as expensive delays in pipeline installation because of repairing the anti-corrosion coating and installing any other mechanical protection system.

Rock Jacket® Calculator is a proprietary cost comparison tool that was developed by Bredero Shaw to compare the Total Installed Cost (TIC) of Rock Jacket® versus the alternative products in the market – sand padding, select backfill (mechanical bedding and padding) and rock shield materials. A Bredero Shaw representative will be happy to meet you and help you compare the different products by using the Rock Jacket® Calculator.

Three main categories of costs included in Total Installed Cost in order to have a relevant comparison among the different mechanical protection systems:

1. Material Supply Costs
   - Raw materials
   - Plant application
   - Transportation to ROW
   - AC coating protection during transportation
   - Equipment mobilization and set up
   - Plant mobilization (for Rock Jacket® mobile plants)
2. Direct Installation Costs
   - Trenching
   - Bending and stringing
   - Pipe bedding/foam pillow installation
   - Pipeline jeeping and AC coating repairs
   - Pipe lower-in
   - Pipe padding
   - Geofabrics and breakers to prevent sand washout
   - Backfill selection
3. Indirect Installation Costs
   - Extra ROW/trench work space preparation and restoration
   - Surplus rock/spoil temporary storage, removal from ROW and disposal
   - Delays to other installation crews

Comparing only the material supply costs – for example the local Rock Jacket® price to the local price of sand does not make sense, as it does not take into account all the costs that are involved in installing each mechanical protection system.

The price of Rock Jacket® depends on multiple parameters – local production costs, plant mobilization costs, price of alternative mechanical protection systems in the market. Therefore, the price will be project-specific and will be determined so that it offers the best cost/benefit structure to the customer. Please contact a Bredero Shaw representative in order to get the Rock Jacket® price for a specific project.

There are two options for joint protection:

1. Rock Jacket® Field Joint Kit –a 2-piece kit of wire reinforced PE wrap – width 279 mm +6/-0 (11”+0.25”/-0) and thickness 4.8-6.4 mm (0.19-0.25”) to be installed over the heat-shrinking sleeve. The Rock Jacket® Field Joint Kit is supplied by Bredero Shaw as well.
2. In-situ Concrete Joint Protection – grout molded on the joint with mesh reinforcement and spacers – more suitable for HDD crossings. This alternative can also be supplied by Bredero Shaw – please contact us for details.

The main benefits of Rock Jacket® for the designers of an onshore pipeline are:

• Unique mechanical protection during the entire pipeline installation and life cycle - Rock Jacket® is the only mechanical protection system in the industry that protects the pipe and the anti-corrosion coating during the entire pipeline installation and service life cycle - the anti-corrosion coating and the pipe are fully protected during the transportation to ROW, handling (loading, unloading), pipeline installation (lower-in, backfilling), and pipeline service life (proven by coating inspections several years after the pipeline installation). Rock Jacket® has a technical performance in terms of mechanical protection (impact resistance, penetration resistance, etc) that is far superior to any other mechanical protection system in the market – please refer to the Rock Jacket® datasheet for details.
• Pipeline design flexibility in any type of terrain, trench material and climate – Rock Jacket® is ideal for rough terrains – rocky/mountain areas, steep slopes, river and road crossings, and pipe dragging applications, with any trench material type and size and in any type of climate. Rock Jacket® can be buried directly in blasted out rock trenches – does not need bedding/padding, uses the blasted/excavated trench spoil material for backfill, does not need an increased ROW or deeper/wider trench, does not need additional manpower or equipment.
• Lowest impact on the right-of-way and the surrounding environment during pipeline installation and entire service life – for details, please see question dedicated to the environmental benefits
• Global availability – besides the two fixed facilities in Canada and Australia, Rock Jacket® can be supplied from the Bredero Shaw unique portable plants that can be mobilized anywhere in the world in a short period of time to improve the overall project economics
• Consistent quality – Rock Jacket® is consistently manufactured according to the most stringent standards of quality in the industry

The main benefits of Rock Jacket® for the pipeline owners are:

• Unique mechanical protection during the entire pipeline installation and life cycle - Rock Jacket® is the only mechanical protection system in the industry that protects the pipe and the anti-corrosion coating during the entire pipeline installation and service life cycle - the anti-corrosion coating and the pipe are fully protected during the transportation to ROW, handling (loading, unloading), pipeline installation (lower-in, backfilling), and pipeline service life (proven by coating inspections several years after the pipeline installation). Rock Jacket® has a technical performance in terms of mechanical protection (impact resistance, penetration resistance, etc) that is far superior to any other mechanical protection system in the market – please refer to the Rock Jacket® datasheet for details.
• Pipeline design and installation flexibility in any type of terrain, trench material and climate without using any additional manpower or equipment – Rock Jacket® is ideal for rough terrains – rocky/mountain areas, steep slopes, river and road crossings, and pipe dragging applications, as well as with any trench material type and size and in any type of climate. Rock Jacket® can be buried directly in blasted out rock trenches – does not need bedding/padding, uses the blasted/excavated trench spoil material for backfill, does not need an increased ROW or deeper/wider trench, does not need additional manpower or equipment. All the other mechanical protection systems in the market have limitations, especially in terms of terrain configuration, trench material type and size and weather during installation and all need additional equipment and manpower for installation.
• Lowest impact on the right-of-way and the surrounding environment during pipeline installation and entire service life – see question dedicated to the environmental benefits for details
• Global availability – besides the two fixed facilities in Canada and Australia, Rock Jacket® can be supplied from the Bredero Shaw unique portable plants that can be mobilized anywhere in the world in a short period of time to improve the overall project economics
• Consistent quality – Rock Jacket® is consistently manufactured according to the most stringent standards of quality in the industry
• Lowest total installed cost and installation time among mechanical protection systems - some examples of cost reductions include: no bedding/padding required, no jeeping and AC coating repairs needed prior to lower-in, no ROW over-excavation for bedding, no separators or pads needed during transportation and handling, no extra labor costs, no costs with sand truck or other specialized equipment, no surplus trench spoil material disposal costs. Rock Jacket® is the only mechanical protection system in the industry that does not slow down the pipeline installation process.

The main benefits of Rock Jacket® for contractors are the highest level of installation productivity among the mechanical protection systems (pipeline installation is not delayed by the installation of the Rock Jacket®), cost reductions (no bedding/padding required; no jeeping and AC coating repairs needed prior to lower-in; no ROW over-excavation for bedding; no separators or pads needed during transportation and handling; no extra labor costs; no costs with sand truck or other specialized equipment; no surplus trench spoil material disposal costs) leading to a lower total installed cost (TIC) for Rock Jacket® compared to other mechanical protection systems), no limitations in terms of terrain configuration, trench material and climate, as well as its global availability.

Rock Jacket® has the lowest impact on the ROW and its surrounding environment during pipeline installation: vegetation loss is reduced due to the lower ROW width needed and no need for sand dump space and sand truck access; reduced disturbance to soil due to lower ROW width and re-use of the trench spoil material for backfilling; minimized volume of trench spoil that has to be removed from the ROW and disposed of; allows river and stream crossings through horizontal directionally drilled crossings to minimize fish population disturbance and protect water quality.

Rock Jacket® also has the lowest environmental impact among the mechanical protection systems during the pipeline service life: by minimizing the soil structure changes, Rock Jacket® does not significantly increase the long-term erosion danger (through backfill/ bedding material washouts, especially on steep slopes) as some of the other protection systems do (sand and mechanical bedding and padding).