A solution for the watermain breaks along the west end of Riverside Drive is coming sooner than anticipated.
With the city seeing a significant cost savings by using new technology on a Meadow Lane project, $920,000 has been freed up and will be used to replace the pipe between Shirley and Government Road. Any additional money would be used to line pipes on either Way Avenue, Middleton Avenue or Powerline Avenue.
Council approved transferring the money at a special council meeting today.
“As a result of the watermain breaks we continue to have on Riverside Drive out past the mall and towards Walmart we’ve decided to redirect those funds to take care of that issue a little further than planned,” said Timmins Mayor Steve Black after the meeting.
“We had planned phase one for this year already, but they’re going to use the dollars that we saved on the other project to further complete that area and hopefully put an end to the ongoing watermain breaks in that area.”
The cash was saved by using a trenchless rehabilitation method for the Meadow Lane project.
Instead of going in and digging up the street, pipes are being lined, a method that manager of engineering Pat Seguin said allows crews to do the work by entering and exiting a manhole.
He explained the process is basically lining the pipe with an epoxy liner, which he said is estimated to last 75 to 100 years.
“And the liner is structural so it does not count on the carrier pipe for strength, so if the carrier pipe deteriorates the liner takes over as the pipe,” said Seguin.
Initially the Meadow Lane work was given a $1 million budget, however the costs were reduced to about $80,000.
Since July 16, there have been five watermain breaks on Riverside Drive.
Seguin said the pipes on that stretch of road are at the end of their life.
“The reason that the breaks are happening during construction is because they’re large lines and they’re turning valves very slowly but just the change in water directions is causing these things to break apart. In one case, they basically just exposed the pipe and a coupler blew apart because the bolts were completely corroded off, so it was being held there by the soil pressure. It’s in a very precarious state, it’s probably the worst one in the city,” Seguin said.
The soil in the area has also been tested and is “very, very corrosive.”
That factor is being taken into consideration for the new pipes.
“What we’re doing as far as the corrosiveness, the pipe is an epoxy so it’s not affected by that corrosion. Any of the metal parts we would wrap with a bitumen wrap so it’s basically sealed from moisture,” he said.
Seguin estimates the price tag for the waterline work will be about $700,000.
While Coun. Andrew Marks asked if any extra money available this year be held for next year, Seguin advises against that route.
“I would certainly recommend that we use the entire budget because to go and do it separately in another year will cost us probably four times the cost to bring them in to line just one of those individual streets,” Seguin said.
