Unrolling the pipes
The pipes are very strong and come tightly bound. These must be uncoiled and straightened before they can be used. Don't forget though, these are 100Mtrs long so you need a good sized area available in which to straighten them.

Coding the pipes
We had 600Mtrs of pipe to put underground (6 lengths of 100Mtrs) and we found it very useful to coding both ends of each pipe using coloured sticky tape. For example, we used a different colour for each pipe and then used one stripe for one end and two for the other. This was very useful when identifying pipes once they were buried and before they were connected to a manifold.

Blue coded pipe
Another pipe being colour coded prior to being placed into it's trench.

Pre-Forming the pipes
The first time we laid a pipe we found it incredibly difficult because of the inflexibility of the pipes. We decide that the best way to keep them at the correct distance apart (ideally 900mm), was to use garden canes taped to the pipes. We first found the half-way position and then placed the first cane near the bend.

Adding extra canes to get exact size
After the first cane was in position, we placed additional ones a few Mtrs apart. This is only useful for long straight runs of pipe. Once in position, we found it useful to trim the ends off the canes.

Prepared Pipes
This picture shows a pipe prepared and ready to be lowered into a trench.

Moving the pipe into position
This is Gill pulling the prepared pipes into position ready for lowering into the newly dug trench.

Pipe in Trench
This picture shows the pipe in position in the trench laid on a bed of sand (to protect it from sharp or large stones). Gill and Stevie are seen covering the pipes with several more centimetres of sand before backfilling can commence.

Double width trench with pipes
This picture shows a double width trench (2.7 Mtrs wide) with two lengths of pipe neatly laid into position and waiting for their protective coating of sand.

Backfilling the trenches
Once all the pipes are in position and fully protected, the JCB moves in to backfill the trenches.