City West Water is replacing 250m of an aging water main across Rushall Reserve, from Holden Street to Rushall Crescent, Fitzroy to reduce the likelihood of pipe bursts.
A combination of open trench and trenchless technologies will be used to remove and replace the 750mm main.
Trenchless technology will be used to insert new pipes inside the existing pipes and avoid impact to any established trees.
City West Water General Manager Infrastructure and Delivery, Maree Lang, said that the works had been carefully planned to minimise any damage to the environment.
“We know how popular Rushall Reserve is for locals to walk their dogs, ride their bikes, exercise or relax, so we wanted to make sure we designed our project to protect that as much as we could.
“We’ll be tunnelling under and around the trees in the reserve so none of them have to be removed, and the project will be carefully managed to avoid any impacts to Merri Creek.”
Ms Lang said that while a section of the reserve itself would be impacted by the construction, the grass would be reinstated once the project is finished.
“Because of the size of the works there will be some inconvenience for park users, but we’re working to reduce that as much as possible.”
The project is expected to be completed in August 2017.
