Wide Bay Water Corporation has awarded a contract for the trenchless relining of almost 4,000m of underground gravity sewers pipes and works have commenced.
“Works are currently being undertaken by Kembla Watertech Pty Ltd, a specialised pipeline and access chamber rehabilitation contractor who has been active in the industry for over 20 years, to reline over 50 separate sewers in Hervey Bay and Maryborough,” CEO Peter Care said.
“The benefit of using this type of no-dig technology is that the cracks, breaks, and leaks in the ageing pipework are all repaired without having to excavate in resident’s back yards and can be performed while the sewer remains in operation, which means less interruption to our customers.”
The process that Kembla Watertech involves first loading the coils of pipe into a warming trailer on site and heating them until they are soft. When the correct temperature is reached, the pipe is folded onto itself so that it fits inside the existing sewer and is winched from one manhole to the other. Steam injectors are then fitted to each end of the pipe so that steam and pressure can be applied internally to expand and form the pipe lining tightly against the old pipe.
Once this lining is complete, specialist equipment is used to reinstate the property connections.
“The relining is necessary to ensure that the sewers remain free of tree roots which block the sewer as well as preventing groundwater entering the system through faults.” Mr Care said.
All of the works are scheduled for completion by the end of March 2014.
