A massive water infrastructure overhaul currently taking place in the city of Martinsville, Ind., is using the combination of horizontal directional drilling and CertainTeed Certa-Lok C900/RJ PVC pipe to minimize disruption to residential areas and farmland.
The 21,000-ft project involves replacing old cast iron potable water pipes with 12-in. Certa-Lok C900/RJ, a restrained-joint PVC pipe, and connecting the community’s rural homes with the City of Martinsville water supply.
The city hired engineering firm Bonar Group, based in Fort Wayne, Ind., to design the new system, with onsite support from Holloway Engineering, of Mooresville, Ind.
Though a large portion of the water lines goes through farmland, there were concerns that an open-trench pipe installation would disturb farmers’ planting and harvesting, in addition to disrupting residential areas and local traffic. Because of this, Bonar Group called for the pipe to be installed via the trenchless method of directional drilling.
“It’s pretty unusual for us to do such a large amount of directional drilling in one project,” says Jeff DeWitt, P.E., project engineer for Bonar Group. “In this project, we decided to use it for the full 21,000 ft because we were in tight areas, and we didn’t want to disturb roads or utilities.”
Bonar Group had positive results using Certa-Lok C900/RJ pipe in a previous 29,400-ft award-winning project in Wheeler, Ind., and specified it again for the Martinsville project. The restrained-joint PVC pipe performs well in trenchless installations and is an ideal choice for municipalities that want the combined benefits of corrosion-resistant PVC pipe and an easy-to-assemble restrained joint system.
“The city was already familiar with PVC pipe, so this is an easy transition for them,” DeWitt said. “With Certa-Lok pipe, they won’t have to purchase and stock new equipment and fittings to service the new pipe system, as they would with other pipe materials.”
Source: CertainTeed
