INNOVATIVE WATER MAIN REHAB AVERTS WATER SUPPLY CRISIS

An emergency failure of a 15-mile long water main serving 10,000 customers of Winchester, Virginia, prompted the city to adopt an innovative approach to contracting and building a replacement. The project included the installation of an 18-inch aboveground bypass pipe so that the city could remove the existing pipe and install a new one in its place. That approach was chosen because it saved the need for acquiring another right-of-way, which would have meant undertaking new excavation and blasting in rocky terrain, and it minimized disruptions along the route. The city closely with the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), with VDOT allowing for the overnight closings of the ramps in order to install the casings using open-cut technologies. The design schedule was accelerated to avoid experiencing another failure in the system, which is the only source of water for the 10,000 customers. One aspect of the innovative approach was the retaining of a virtual contractor, an experienced pipeline contractor with no vested interests, who could give suggestions and evaluate proposed solutions. Each time a section was completed, it was put into use. By replacing the old main, the city saved about $2.5 million compared to building a new pipeline, and it was also able to sell more than 7,000 tons of cast iron from the old pipe as scrap.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/1606878
• Corporate Authors:

  Public Works Journal Corporation

  200 South Broad Street
  Ridgewood, NJ  United States  07451
• Authors:
  • Noonan, J
  • Sanders, F
• Publication Date: 2002-3

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Photos;
• Pagination: p. 18-20
• Serial:
  • Public Works
  • Volume: 134
  • Issue Number: 3
  • Publisher: Hanley Wood
  • ISSN: 0033-3840
  • Serial URL: http://www.pwmag.com

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Construction scheduling; Excavations; Water pipelines
• Geographic Terms: Winchester (Virginia)
• Subject Areas: Construction; Pipelines;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00939955
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: UC Berkeley Transportation Library
• Files: BTRIS, TRIS
• Created Date: Apr 2 2003 12:00AM