Australia: Centenarian sewer gets after-dark upgrade
Mar 08, 2023
Over 100 years since its inception, Brisbane’s S1 Main Sewer has undergone a seven-year upgrade.
By harnessing the power of innovation, Urban Utilities and its delivery partner, Interflow, have given a new life to a hidden but essential piece of infrastructure.
Deep under Brisbane’s bustling CBD lies Brisbane’s oldest and largest sewer pipeline. Averaging 1.5 m in diameter, the S1 Main Sewer runs a total of 12 km, stretching from Toowong to the Eagle Farm pump station and is buried eight stories beneath the ground.
Completed back in 1924, the S1 serves well over 750,000 people, carrying 60 percent of the city’s sewage. To put that in perspective, more than 60 Olympic-sized swimming pools of wastewater travels through the system daily.
A lot has changed in Brisbane over the last 100 years, so it’s no surprise that the S1 would eventually need an upgrade to meet the needs of the growing city. The works involved rehabilitating a section of the pipeline between James Street in Fortitude Valley to the Eagle Farm pump station, spanning a 5.7 km distance.
Owner of the asset, Urban Utilities, first awarded the rehabilitation works to leading pipeline infrastructure company, Interflow, back in 2015. Since then, Interflow has relined 40 individual sections (averaging 160 m) of pipeline using a spiral-wound lining system.
Fast forward seven years, and the S1 Main Sewer upgrade is now complete, with Brisbane’s largest sewer asset ready to serve its community for generations to come.
Operating along Brisbane’s bustling CBD
While the S1 Main Sewer lies quietly 20 m below ground, the same can’t be said for the bustling corridor of Kingsford Smith Drive located directly above. The busy road is a primary freight route linking Brisbane’s CBD to key places such as the Brisbane Airport, Port of Brisbane, and Northshore Hamilton.
To reduce community disruption and minimise traffic impacts on the busy road, work took place at night. This meant all traffic lanes could operate undisrupted during peak travel periods. It also meant crews needed to move on and off the busy road each night to allow full lane access in the morning.
“We developed a portable set up that could be quickly assembled and removed, giving us more time to make progress on relining the S1 within our small nighttime working window from 8pm to 5am,” says John Adamo, Interflow’s Project Manager during the program’s early phases.
“Once we had sewer access, we would mobilise a gantry set up straight over the access chamber using a small crane, which could easily take it on and off the worksite daily.”
“We did something similar for our grouting team, too. We imported a special trailer and built a mobile grout plant on it,” Adamo says.
Operating as a separate team up the road, the grouting crew would move large bags of cement by forklift and empty them into a mixer before blending it with water. The grout was then sent down the access chamber and injected between the lining and the old pipe to secure it in place.
By making their set up portable, Interflow was able to work in the peak of the night within a small working window, allowing little disruption to Brisbane’s traffic network.
Going deeper underground
On projects of this scale, it is not unusual for conditions to change along the way. In this case it led the delivery team to seek new solutions in order to adapt.
“As we moved further through the sewer, the pipelines were getting deeper,” Interflow’s Development Manager Boris Graljuk says. “This meant there was an increase in the external forces on the pipeline.”
The increasing depth of the sewer meant the relining solution had to be incredibly strong to withstand the extra pressures. Working closely with technology partner, Sekisui Rib Loc Australia, Interflow identified an innovative way of reinforcing a spiral-wound liner with steel.
“Spiral lining is performed by winding an interlocking strip of PVC into an existing pipe to form a smooth, continuous pipe,” says Graljuk. “The new solution, called RibSteel, involved clipping stainless steel strips into the outside of the PVC strip in the lined pipe, which makes it exceptionally strong.”
To make sure this solution was suitable for S1 upgrade, Interflow conducted a series of rigorous tests in their workshop to make sure it would be reliable in the challenging conditions. Once both Interflow and Urban Utilities were satisfied that RibSteel was up to the task, Boris and the team took the process to site.
“We did everything on site. The steel arrived flat and was formed to shaped using a roll former, before being coiled into the same diameter as the liner. Once it was formed, we could pass it down to the winder and insert it into the profile,” Graljuk says.
Beginning the next chapter of the S1’s history
The upgrade of Brisbane’s oldest and largest pipeline undertaken below one of its busiest roads, makes it one of the most challenging sewer upgrades to be completed on Australian soil.
With the last line now complete, the S1 Main Sewer is ready for its next chapter. The impressive yet hidden piece of infrastructure will go on to serve the Brisbane community for generations to come.
More News and Articles
Jul 24, 2024
News
UK utilities place multiple orders for settlement tank technology
Northumbrian Water, Southern Water, and Dŵr Cymru upgrading wastewater sites
Three UK water utilities have agreed orders for the installation of a total of six conical settlement …
Jul 22, 2024
Article
Reusing wastewater, rethinking water: Maharashtra's roadmap
How Maharashtra turns wastewater into a resource
Water resource management is a critical issue globally, and in India, the state of Maharashtra is pioneering efforts to regulate and …
Jul 19, 2024
News
Kansas City advances fire hydrant leak detection technology
An acoustic fixed-base pipe monitoring technology that uses fire hydrants to host multi-sensor devices, has already found more than 30 leaks for Kansas City Water, says Lou Rossetti …
Jul 17, 2024
News
When two bores right a wrong
The Edge Underground team is adamant: there is always a risk of things going wrong on a trenchless project, even for the most prepared contractor.
Experience and having the right equipment can be the difference between …
Jul 15, 2024
News
Adapting to a region’s growing water and wastewater needs
Gippsland Water has completed two major projects to provide local communities with water security. Trenchless Australasia takes a look at the two projects helping increase water supply …
Jul 12, 2024
News
Connections made in Glastonbury
Difficult ground conditions called for a specialist solution when new PE pipes for potable water services had to be installed underneath two, 10-metre road crossings in the grounds of the UK’s ultimate music festival …
Jul 10, 2024
Article
The Water-Energy Nexus: Interdependence and Challenges
Niclas Andersson, CEO of AirWater2All, explains the connection between water and energy. The importance of this connection and the areas in which it needs to be considered are explained …
Jul 08, 2024
News
Minimising cultural impacts with trenchless technology
Yarra Valley Water is leveraging the benefits of trenchless technology to lessen impacts on the Upper Darebin Creek branch sewer project.
The project consists of building a 2.7km sewer pipe …
Jul 05, 2024
News
SprayWall: Reinforcing Underground Infrastructure with Unmatched Strength
In the trenchless technology industry, finding a rehabilitation solution that offers ease of installation and exceptional structural integrity is paramount.
For three decades, …
Jul 01, 2024
News
“Don’t let stereotypes hold you back”
Trenchless Australasia sat down with Rob Carr project manager Marie Piette to discuss her career and work at the microtunnelling contracting company.
From Norway to Cambodia and now Perth, Western Australia, …
Jun 28, 2024
News
Transforming Wastewater: Towards Climate-Neutral Sewage Treatment
Baden-Württemberg’s Minister President Winfried Kretschmann recently toured the Büsnau Training and Research Sewage Treatment Plant, where a pioneering project led by researchers …
Jun 26, 2024
News
Bothar advances with significant new contracts
Having commenced work on the Fitzroy to Gladstone Pipeline earlier this year, Bothar Boring and Tunnelling has announced the award of further contracts as part of its ongoing collaboration with …
Contact
Trenchless Australasia
379 Docklands Dr
VIC 3008 Docklands
Australia
Phone:
+61 3 9690 8766