Viking Johnson Couplings

Viking Johnson couplings and adaptors have a long history and are closely linked now and in the past to the Victaulic Company. Victaulic, as they became in 1927 started as the Victory Pipe Joint Company Ltd in 1919; the name is an amalgamation of victory and hydraulic. The original Victaulic coupling was invented by Lieutenant Ernest Tribe to improve the function of the Vincent Flamethrower in World War 1. Turning it into a reliable lethal weapon that brought terror to the German soldiers in the trenches in many battles.

Three years after they became the Victaulic Company Ltd, product development produced the Johnson coupling. This was a flexible coupling for joining plain-ended pipes together using a flexible pressure seal. The now Viking Johnson couplings became a widely used product across the developing world with the installation of replacement water lines in 1932 in London. Then in 1933 the 600mm hydro-electric power scheme pipelines at Sunderijal in Nepal India; then in 1937, 15,000 couplings were supplied for a water scheme in Trinidad.

The reason that Viking Johnson Couplings were a highly sought-after replacement for traditional piping systems, was time and flexibility. If you can imagine installing 600mm diameter pipelines using traditional flange joints as compared to a coupling that allowed for flexibility. The installation time is reduced and the flexible nature of the Viking Johnson products allows for much reduced fabrication times for underground water infrastructure. How long does it take to cast a large flanged pipe or fabricate and coat a 600mm diameter pipe compared to joining two ends with a coupling?

Success after success followed in the decades following this with new products being added to the Viking Johnson Couplings range; which included a flexible repair clamp invented in 1945. This versatile product and the first of its kind allowed utility companies to repair water pipeline leaks without the expense of replacing lengths of pipe. These first repair clamps were lead sealed as befitted water pipelines at the time with lead water pipes feeding many homes. In the fifties and sixties came similar products with rubber seals

Viking Johnson couplings led the way through to the 1970s, innovating to simplify the installation of utility pipelines. While President Nixon was announcing the Space Shuttle program; Viking Johnson Couplings were being installed around the World. Major water installations across the planet were installed in this period of international growth. Major installation contracts during that period were happening in West Glamorgan, Egypt and Guatemala with various types of Viking Johnson Couplings.

The 1980s saw was a decade remembered for new technologies as the Compact Disc was invented but for Viking Johnson, it was a momentous ten years. In 1985 came the MaxiFit range of Viking Johnson Couplings. Earlier in the decade as the Rubik’s Cube appeared and took the world by storm, the Viking Johnson EasiRange came into being. 1983 saw the privatisation of British Steel’s tubular division of which Viking Johnson was then part; at this point, an employee buyout saw the birth of Victaulic PLC. The last year of the decade of electronic music and new wave bands saw yet another Viking Johnson innovation with the AquaGrip range of products.

As the New Year turned over into another decade and the terrible clothes of the 1980s became another fancy dress theme; then we would all try to forget songs like Never Going to Give You Up and I Should Be So Lucky. For the then Victaulic company, this decade seems uneventful in the life of the developers and inventors of the Viking Johnson couplings. It appears that only at the end of the 1990s did a new product arrive with an improved leak repair joint. But this was also a period of major growth in the UK and the economies of the wider world. The beginning of the World Wide Web is the most iconic event of the decade; followed by new technologies such as 2g mobile phones.

This brings us to the new millennium when Viking Johnson staff and the wider world were waiting for all computer systems to crash on New Year’s Eve. Were the aeroplanes going to fall out of the sky, followed by the crash of banking systems across the world? Luckily none of these events took place and Viking Johnson, along with the rest of the world, carried on regardless. In 2003 right at the beginning of the noughties, Crane PLC purchased Viking Johnson couplings and it became part of their global business, adding a highly versatile brand to an already highly respected global valve and pipeline manufacturer.

In 2005 the new MaxiFit Viking Johnson Couplings were launched and all other Viking Johnson couplings and flange adapters are available through ValvesTubesFitings.com. By contacting our sales team you can find the right solution for your project; whether a repair to an existing system or the installation of a new system. You will find the listing for the range we stock here in Ashton-under-Lyne by clicking the Viking Johnson couplings highlighted link or by contacting our excellent sales team.

As we approach 2020 and the beginning of another new decade, there will be more innovation from Viking Johnson couplings and the pipeline industry as a whole. As water becomes a precious commodity across the world, efficient and leak-free installations are more urgent than ever. The time has come for the United Kingdom and the wider world to replace ageing water and gas infrastructure with new technology; although if the predictions of science are accurate.

There will be places in the world where water will cause issues for many reasons, rising water levels in some parts of the world will see land disappear. The failure of rainfall in other parts of our planet will result in crop failure and starvation. The management of the resources of our planet will be a testament to failure or success in the coming millennia. Businesses like ourselves and Viking Johnson will have a role in how this future pans out; contributions big and small will make a real difference to what happens next. Please use the various highlighted links to contact our business and if you have any comments on the content please leave a comment below.

Disclaimer: Information correct at the time of publishing (November 2019) but is subject to change. E&OE.