LanesForDrains installs hybrid lining at port

Ports run on hidden infrastructure. Gates, basins, pumps, culverts — all the boring stuff has to work, or ships stop moving. That is why this Shoreham Port job matters more than it might sound at first glance. Lanes Group says it has used a newly developed hybrid lining system for the first time to rehabilitate four large-diameter seawater pipes that help keep the Sussex port operating, and it did the work without taking the system out of service. ### What exactly got repaired? The job was at Shoreham Port in West Sussex. The four pipes carry seawater from a pump house to refill the dock basin behind the sea locks, which is what allows large vessels to enter and leave. These were not side assets. They were part of the port’s core hydraulic system, and Lanes said the conduits were at risk of failure if they were not rehabilitated. ### Why is that a hard pipe-lining job? Large-diameter pipes are awkward enough on their own, but these ones also sat inside a live port environment where shutting things down carries real commercial cost. Dig-and-replace would have been massively disruptive. Even standard lining can get tricky when the host pipe is big, access while the port keeps being a port.” ### So what is the hybrid bit? The system combined localized patch liners with a full-length liner. That is the key trick. The patch liners dealt with specific defects first, then the full liner created the longer continuous pipe-within-a-pipe. Think of it like stabilizing weak spots before pulling a new sleeve through the whole structure. That hybrid sequence appears to be the reason Lanes is calling this a first use of the newly developed method. ### Why not just replace the pipes? Because replacement is the expensive, messy version of the problem. Excavation at a working port means access issues, heavy civil works, scheduling pain, and a much bigger chance of interrupting operations. Trenchless lining changes the economics. You keep the existing alignment, avoid major more than in an ordinary drainage job. ### Why does “live repair” matter so much? Because these pipes support the pump system that refills the dock basin behind the locks. If that system goes down, the port does not just have a maintenance issue — it has an operational bottleneck. Lanes framed the work as futureproofing infrastructure tied directly to Shoreham Port ### Is this just a one-off stunt? Probably not. Ports and terminals have lots of buried assets that are hard to access and even harder to shut down. If this hybrid approach scales, it gives operators another option between “do nothing” and “rip everything up.” It looks especially suited to large-bore conduits where defects are, but it fits the way the method was deployed here. ### What is the bottom line? This was a trenchless infrastructure job, but the bigger point is operational resilience. Lanes Group used a hybrid liner setup to keep Shoreham Port’s seawater transfer pipes in service while extending their life. For ports, that is the sweet spot — less excavation, less downtime, and a lower chance that an invisible pipe turns into a visible shutdown.