Improvement Project Taps CertainTeed Pipe
A water infrastructure overhaul in Martinsville, Ind., is using horizontal directional drilling and CertainTeed Certa-LokTM C900/RJ PVC pipe to minimize disruption to residential areas and farmland.
According to a Nov. 6 press release, the 21,000-foot project will replace cast iron potable water pipes with 12-inch, restrained-joint PVC pipe and connect 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 on-site support from Holloway Engineering of Mooresville, Ind.
Though a large portion of the pipeline goes through farmland, the engineers were concerned that an open-trench pipe installation would disturb planting and harvesting as well as residential areas and local traffic.
"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 feet because we were in tight areas, and we didn't want to disturb roads or utilities.
"The city was already familiar with PVC pipe, so this is an easy transition for them," DeWitt says. "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."
Certa-Lok's innovative joining system, which uses a high-strength spline to connect pipe lengths, reliably holds the pipe together during installation and pressurization, while elastomeric O-rings provide a dependable pressure seal.
The city of Martinsville hired contractor Infrastructure Systems Inc. (ISI), of Orleans, Ind., to install the pipe, with a crew of four and a Vermeer 33x44 directional drill. ISI began work in April, after finishing a 4,500-foot potable water installation of 8-inch and 10-inch Certa-Lok C900/RJ pipe in downtown Martinsville. The job, expected to complete by the end of the year, has run fairly smooth, despite delays caused in March by a tornado and in June by flooding from the nearby White River.