SA Water has completed a pipeline repair at Rundle Mall, Adelaide, marking the first time the utility has used a trenchless fix in its metropolitan sewer network.
The trenchless quick-lock system uses a stainless steel sleeve that’s transported within the sewer main to the repair point where it’s then expanded by a small compressor to line and seal the pipe.
By deploying the sleeve into the pipe from a sewer access chamber near the intersection of Gawler Place and Rundle Mall in Adelaide’s CBD, SA Water’s crews were able to restore the pipe’s structural integrity and prevent a potential collapse, without the need for excavating.
SA Water’s Senior Manager of Infrastructure Planning and Strategy, Daniel Hoefel, said the sewer pipe’s location in the heart of Adelaide made it the perfect candidate for testing this new trenchless methodology.
“With a vast network of infrastructure across South Australia, we need to keep challenging ourselves to explore different ways of maintaining our assets, to ensure we’re minimising any impact on the surrounding community from our work,” Mr Hoefel said.
“Particularly within Adelaide’s CBD – which sees around 100,000 people each day during the work week – the potential impact can be even greater, making it the ideal location to trial the quick-lock system.”
Featured image: SA Water’s crew used a combination of ropes and steel rods – guided by a CCTV camera – to push the stainless steel sleeve to the impacted section of pipe. Courtesy of SA Water.
