A water main break just above the Trans-Canada Highway is proving costly to the City of Revelstoke.
The city is looking at spending $238,000 to replace a water main at the west end of Alpine Lane East, near the Trans-Canada Highway, after a “significant” leak was discovered in October.
In a staff report, city engineer Mike Thomas wrote, “The location, priority of this infrastructure, season and potential risks have all caused this issue to become urgent. Should the water main fail prior to replacement, the city’s water supply could be restored operationally; however, the impacts to the highway and adjacent properties could be significant.”
The main is part of the line that stretches from the Greeley Water Treatment Plant to the Trans-Canada Highway reservoir. The system in that location features two adjacent 300 millimetre pipes made out of asbestos concrete. The proposal calls to replace them with a single 450 millimetre pipe at a cost of $238,000.
The location of the break presents significant challenges to city staff and has made it difficult to determine the exact problem. The pipes also don’t have shut off valves. They were installed more than 40 years ago and now sit under five to six metres of dirt. “It’s made it very difficult to reach the pipe,” Thomas told council last week. “We attempted, but we abandoned the attempt. It was too difficult to proceed with the equipment that we’ve got without doing some serious engineering for worker safety.
“As a result, we were unable to determine which pipe was leaking, or if both are leaking.”
The total water loss is not known.
“If there were a pipe failure, it could impact the embankment above the Trans-Canada Highway, which may impact traffic and private property,” Thomas said. “In the past there have been some serious issues on that hillside relating to water breaks.”
Council approved the plan to replace the pipes. The money will be re-allocated from the $500,000 budgeted to replace the Illecillewaet water main crossing. That project has been put off while the city seeks grant funding.
