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SALT LAKE CITY — A leaky water main under Foothill Boulevard has been a persistent problem for the city. Tearing up the busy road seemed like the only long-term solution until the public works department came up with an innovative fix to minimize frustration for motorists.
"You can get in, and get it done quickly and efficiently," said Jeff Niermeyer, Salt Lake City public works director.
Fixing a deteriorating water main usually means digging a long, deep trench and disrupting traffic for weeks, even months. Salt Lake City came up with a solution that allowed them to knock off the biggest part of the job in less than 24 hours. That makes a difference with all of the traffic during peak times on Foothill as motorists head to and from the University of Utah.
The old, steel water main, installed in 1947, was causing headaches.
"We kept having to shut down all of the traffic on Foothill Boulevard to dig down and replace it," Niermeyer said.
He said the old water pipe had too many leaks and needed too many repairs.
"The community was getting irritated with us," Niermeyer added. "We were getting irritated with ourselves."
They wanted to fix the pipe, maintain traffic on Foothill, and save taxpayers some money.
"We came up with a slipline scenario to resolve that," Niermeyer said.
Crews fused together large sections of the new 28-inch diameter pipe. They then slowly fed the new pipe inside the old 32-inch diameter steel pipe.
You can get in, and get it done quickly and efficiently.
–Jeff Niermeyer, Salt Lake City public works director
At the other end of the project, 1,800 feet away, a winch pulled the new pipe into place.
"Insert it in the existing pipeline without having to dig up the road," the public works director said.
Crews put down 600 yards of water main in less than 24 hours with only three holes in the road, and at one-quarter the cost. It took a week to prepare the project, and it will take another week to wrap up.
"You really minimize the disruption to the community," Niermeyer said.
As all of our communities deal with aging infrastructure, Niermeyer said they must be innovative to complete rehabilitation and replacement projects while not disrupting the community.
The city has used this technique before with sewer lines, but this is the first time they've used this technique for a project and a pipe this big.
The city has 1,400 miles of water main throughout the city, so this could be a very valuable technique in the future, Niermeyer said.
