North American Special - Trenchless International

north america
April 2009 - Trenchless International
Livingston Online, Michigan
– “Up to $4.8 million could be
pumped into Howell’s three year
water and sewer projects.”
Albany Herald, New York
– “Public Works Director Phil
Robertson had a list of some 18
infrastructure projects [including]
$34 million to rehabilitate storm
and sanitary sewer system.”
Lancaster Online, Pennsylvania
– “44 projects are ‘shovel-ready’
totalling $262…the most expensive
city project proposed for funding is
the construction of an underground
sewer storage facility.’
Kitsap Sun, Washington –
“Kitsap County officials came up
with 60 ‘shovel-ready’ projects
including a $13 million sewer service
from Bremerton Airport to the
treatment facility.”
Danvers Herald, Massachusetts
– “Danvers submitted a list of
‘shovel-ready’ projects [including]
the Bates and Riverside Street renovation
of water and sewer, road
and sidewalk surfaces, at $1.7 million.
There has been something like
4,500 projects submitted by the 350
cities and towns in Massachusetts.”
The Daily Journal, Illinois –
“Will County Executive Larry Walsh
said ‘We have a list of around $60
million in ‘shovel-ready’ projects.’
Largest of those is a $20 million
sewer infrastructure project for the
Ridgewood area of Joliet.”
The Bridgeport News,
Connecticut – “Governor Rell’s
office has received more than 215
project list requests from municipalities,
state legislators, state agencies,
non-profit groups, regional organisations,
and for-profit entities
[including requests for] sewer plant
improvements.”
“There is an ever-growing need for
Trenchless Technology as a viable solution
for solving America’s underground
infrastructure problems.”
Governors, mayors and city officials are working overtime to
identify the projects that meet the ‘shovel-ready’ qualifications
set by the government. The trenchless industry looks set to
benefit from the injection of funding and a renewed interest in
green or sustainable projects.
The nuts and bolts
In late January, the US conference of Mayors released the
fourth in a series of reports addressing Mainstreet Economic
Recovery on infrastructure projects that are “ready to go”.
The report said that in 779 cities across the country a total of
18,750 local infrastructure projects are ready. These projects
represent an infrastructure investment of $US149 billion that
would be capable of producing an estimated 1.6 million jobs
in 2009 and 2010.
American towns and cities are coping with the ageing of
underground assets while also attempting to keep pace with
new installations. Although the infrastructure is not a visible
expenditure, like bridges and roads, it is essential to the
health, living standards and economy of the nation.
The American Water Works Association, an authority on
safe water, said that “More than $US10 billion in infrastructure
projects around the nation are ‘shovel-ready’ and can be
underway as soon as funds are committed.
“These projects would put more than 400,000 Americans to
work on aging water mains, leaking pipes, treatment plants,
pumps stations, storage reservoirs, elevated tanks and other
needs.”
President Obama, addressing Congress, said the enormous
cash injection will enable the Government to “Build an
economy that can lead this future, we will begin to rebuild
America. Yes, we’ll put people to work repairing crumbling
roads, bridges, and schools by eliminating the backlog of wellplanned,
worthy and needed infrastructure projects. It means
expanding broadband lines across America, so that a small
business in a rural town can connect and compete with their
counterparts anywhere in the world.”
Trenchless industry to lead the way
NASTT Chairman Chris Brahler said “Despite a sluggish US
economy, I am optimistic about the outlook for the trenchless
industry in the coming year. There is an ever-growing need
for Trenchless Technology as a viable solution for solving
America’s underground infrastructure problems.
“The environmental benefits of Trenchless Technology will
be attractive to those cities that are ‘going green’. Current
research shows that CO2 emissions are reduced when trenchless
methods are used versus open-cut. This translates to a
direct-cost benefit for cities that are facing carbon taxation.”
Mr Brahler said that from the green construction aspect
to the heightened awareness of infrastructure, Trenchless
Technology looks to play a strong role in 2009 and beyond. He
also emphasised that the NASTT is well-positioned to face the
challenges that lie ahead.
“Our industry is made up of quality manufacturers, smart
engineers and talented contractors and great municipalities and
end users. That’s a winning combination for any industry.”
Testing the limits of HDD
by J Murphy, G Fyfe, T Giesbrecht and W Dyck
In 2008, Pembina Pipelines completed the construction of a pipeline project to supply oil pipeline
services to one of the new Oil Sands mines in northern Alberta, western Canada. Near the middle of
the project on a section of NPS 24 pipeline, an HDD was required due to access, environmental and
land constraints encountered.
Pembina Pipelines Trust operates
approximately 8,350 km of pipelines in
British Columbia and Alberta. Pembina
was awarded the contract to supply
pipeline services to the new Oil Sands
Project.
The pipeline project included the completion
of five pipeline loops along the
Alberta Oil Sands Pipeline (AOSPL) pipeline.
Existing AOSPL right of ways (ROWs)
were used wherever possible to limit the
quantity of new disturbance caused by
the pipeline project, which is preferred
by government regulators. Construction
of the Horizon Pipeline Project started
in 2006. Construction management was
handled by Sambrosa Engineering of
Edmonton, Alberta.
One of the five new pipeline loops was
the 17.3 km NPS24 Pine Creek Loop,
which followed the existing pipeline corridor
through the environmentally sensitive
La Biche Wildland Provincial Park. There
were many construction related challenges
to deal with on this particular portion of the
project. This loop involved the crossing of
two water bodies, the La Biche River at
the north boundary of the Park and Pine
Creek at the south boundary. These water
bodies constitute portions of the northern,
eastern and southern boundaries of the
park.
After 2002, new pipeline construction in
the park was no longer permitted, as was
demonstrated when another large diameter
pipeline that was to be constructed
at about the same time as the Pine Creek
Loop was forced to reroute around the
park because Pembina's existing ROW
through the park was only licensed for a
single pipeline. Pembina was given permission
to construct the Pine Creek Loop
within the Park because it had a permit
for multiple pipelines within the AOSPL 30
metre ROW.
The original report was based on an isolated,
trenched crossing design. However,
this method of crossing was rejected by
Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation
based on the successful HDD crossing
of the La Biche River at the north end of
the La Biche River Wildland Park. Alberta
Tourism requested and Fisheries and
Oceans Canada subsequently permitted
an HDD crossing method as a first attempt
Horizon / AOSPL Route Map.
with the trenched method as last resort.
Worley Parsons (WP) began reviewing
the various configurations for a directional
drill and subsequently determined that at
least some new ROW would be needed
within the Park. Although summer construction
would occur during the 16 April
to 15 July restriction period, approval
to proceed was obtained as a result of
the change to a trenchless construction
technique, which would not be required in
stream work.
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