Ideally pipe materials to be used in the boring and jacking process should have a smooth exterior wall. The
most commonly used materials for pipes installed by the boring and jacking contractor are smooth wall steel
pipe or tongue and groove circular concrete pipe. Other shapes, such as precast reinforced concrete box
sections and reinforced concrete elliptical pipe sections, have been successfully jacked. Under certain
conditions, corrugated metal pipe can also be jacked.
b. Concrete pipe is manufactured with tongue and groove joints which provide a smooth outside surface. An
appropriate class of concrete pipe should be selected to provide the compression strength to resist the axial
forces imposed by jacking. Supplemental joint reinforcing may be required if eccentric loading of the joint is
a possibility