tunnel's - Trenchless International

Under Brazil
Trenchless International interviewed Associação Brasileira de Tecnologia não Destrutiva Chairman Paulo
Dequech about Brazil’s utilities, upcoming events, Affiliated Society, and projects.
According to Associação Brasileira de Tecnologia não
Destrutiva (ABRATT) Chairman Paulo Dequech, the majority
of Brazil’s underground water and wastewater assets range
between 80- and 40-years-old. Currently, the condition of
Brazil’s water pipelines are very badly deteriorated, and consist
of pipes made of cast iron, steel and from more recent
installations, PVC. Wastewater pipelines are in a worse condition
than water pipelines, and are comprised mostly of clay, concrete
and cast-iron.
The renewal of underground assets is becoming a high priority
to the Brazil Government, particularly in major urban centres.
Sabesp, for example, has its own assets renewal program
supported by JICA from Japan. The company intends to replace
all old water pipeline networks over the next three years.
In progressing this project, the next step will be to rehabilitate the
large watermain located in downtown São Paulo. The government
also intends to start the rehabilitation of large diameter sewers as
soon as appropriate funding is allocated.
Brazil
October 2012 - Trenchless International
Water and wastewater issues
Mr Dequech says Brazil has highly experienced contractors and
engineering companies, who have the material, man-power and
technology to rehabilitate and upgrade Brazil’s infrastructure, but
there is a lack of government funding in the areas of water and
wastewater.
Brazil’s upcoming projects
The biggest sewer project currently underway in the region is the
Tiete River Remediation Program in São Paulo. The project has so
far utilised horizontal directional drilling (HDD) and microtunnelling,
with both techniques proving highly successful in their installations.
Mr Dequech says Brazil has large demands for upgrading sewer
networks with thousands, perhaps even millions, of kilometres
requiring installation throughout the country. He predicts that
Trenchless Technology will be required on the majority of jobs.
Tietê River Remediation Program
In the period from 1900 to 2010, São Paulo’s population
grew to 10.65 million inhabitants. If the wider metropolitan
area is included with its 38 municipal districts, São Paulo has a
population of 19 million.
This rapid increase in the city’s population gave rise to a number
of infrastructure challenges, including traffic jams, floods, and
problems with sewage treatment and water supply.
Today, 85 per cent of houses are connected to the collection
network in greater São Paulo. The total length of the sewage
network is currently 44,600 km, including 490 treatment plants
Project crew working on the Project Tietê.
and 5.8 million house connections. The city’s sewage treatment
capacity stands at 43,500 litres per second.
In October 1990, Project Tietê was launched to improve the
wastewater network and clean the highly polluted 1,000 km long
Tietê River, which runs through São Paulo.
The first phase of Project Tietê ran from 1992–1998, and
included the construction of 1.5 km of collection networks and 315
km of trunk collectors, which expanded the collection network to
serve 250,000 families.
Quick facts on the Tietê River Remediation
Program
Project Operator: Sabesp
Total length of sewer: Approximately 90 km
Length of HDD drive: 5 per cent of total sewer length
Length of microtunnelling drive: 95 per cent of
total length
Fund Agency: World Bank (50-60 per cent) and
Sabesp (50-40 per cent).
The mts1500S4 in action on the Project Tietê.
The second phase of Project Tietê, 2002–2008, saw the
installation of 165 km of trunk collectors, 1,426 km of collection
networks and the cleaning of the Pinheiros River.
The third and final phase of the project started in 2009 and is set
to be completed in 2015. This phase will involve the construction
of 580 km of trunks, collectors and interceptors; 1,250 km of
collection networks; 200,000 household sewage connections and
three new treatment plants. The primary goals of this phase are to
increase wastewater collection from 85 per cent to 87 per cent,
and to raise sewerage treatment from 72 per cent to 84 per cent.
The project is utilising a mts Perforator excavator in the third
phase of the project.
São Paulo’s water utility: Sabesp
The predominant stakeholder for water management in São
Palo is Sabesp, a mixed capital company responsible for water
supply and sewage collection and treatment in 363 municipalities
in the state. Sabesp is one of the largest
sanitation companies in the world in terms
of population covered.
Sabesp was created in 1973 to implement
the National Sanitation Plan (PLANASA) – a
Brazilian Government program that financed capital investments
and helped develop state water and sewage companies, using
funds from the FGTS (Workers’ Severance Pay Fund). Since then,
other publicly – or state-owned companies related to water supply
and sewage collection and treatment in the state have been
merged into Sabesp.
In partnership with private companies, Sabesp also operates
in four other municipalities, Mogi-Mirim, Castilho, Andradina and
Mairinque, in addition to providing advisory services in Panama
and Honduras. It also maintains partnerships with the state
sanitation concessionaires in Alagoas and Espírito Santo.
Currently, 27.6 million people are supplied with water and
20.5 million with sewage collection.
In addition to basic sanitation, Sabesp is also equipped to
provide drainage, urban cleaning, solid waste handling and
energy services.
In order to ensure high-quality services, the company maintains
a massive structure and has invested around $US4.433 billion
over the last five years.
Between 2012 and 2015, it plans to invest a further $US3.94 billion
to ensure that it advances towards its commitment to provide water
and sewage services to everyone in its operational area by 2018.
Brazil
October 2012 - Trenchless International
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