Happy Drinking Water Week! We are spotlighting Watermains today.
Watermains are the pipes in the ground that convey water from the drinking water treatment plant(s) to your home. The distribution network that consists of miles of watermains consists of aging pipes that could break and fail.
H2M Project Spotlight: Routes 34 & 138 Water Main Extensions; Wall Township, NJ
During the summer and fall of 2019, H2M provided inspection and construction administration services to the Wall Township Water Department to install over 13,000 linear feet of new 12-inch C-900 PVC water main in state DOT right-of-way. Additional equipment installed included hydrants, valves, services, and all required bends, tees, and restraint for a complete water main installation. The design of this water main project was performed by others.
The Contractor, Underground Utilities Corporation, began on the Route 138 portion of the project. The first challenge encountered was that between the design of the project and the commencement of the construction phase, the entirety of Route 138 along the Phase III section was paved, and a moratorium placed on all utility work. This necessitated realigning of the water main into the shoulder as well as moving the point of tie-in with the existing system out of NJDOT right-of-way on New Bedford Road.
The project notably included two jack and bores in order to cross Route 33 west of Wyckoff Road, as well as Route 34 south of Wyckoff Road. At each crossing a 24” steel casing was used and 12-inch restrained joint ductile iron pipe (DIP) was installed inside the carrier pipe.
Several challenges were encountered during this project. Night work was required by the local NJDOT representative due to heavy traffic along both state highways. The water main was realigned on a portion of Route 34 in order to avoid conflict with an NJDOT weigh-in-motion station. Upon review by the local fire department, the original design was missing multiple hydrants that were subsequently added.
The Project Manager was H2M’s Stephanie DeCotiis, P.E., of the Central Jersey water department. Stephanie has 10 years of engineering experience and was recently promoted to discipline engineer.
