If you were wondering why traffic on the Trans-Canada Highway was reduced to single lane near the downtown Tim Hortons Monday, the cause lies with an older water main.
City contractors were replacing a 300-mm cast-iron water main with a PVC (polyvinyl chloride) one.
Jenn Wilson, city engineer, explained on May 25 that the majority of the project is relocating the pipe off the shoulder of Highway 1 and into McGuire Lake Park.
A large rectangular pit was dug on Sixth Avenue NE, which she described as an open-cut tie-in. Open-cut is the traditional method of excavating the roadway and then working in the trench.
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She said the park will not be dug up to accommodate the relocation, as the directional drilling method used requires excavations only at the tie-in points “which allows for minimal disturbance of the park.”
Wilson estimates the water main is about 40 years old.
“Which is not old for a water main, but cast iron mains are particularly susceptible to corrosive soil conditions. We’ve had a fair amount of breaks in CI (cast iron) mains throughout town and due to the size and location of this one it was deemed high risk and slotted for replacement.”
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