Trenchless Rehabilitation Saves Grottoes, VA, Culverts—and Money—Without Disrupting Traffic: Fid-Bau Portal

Trenchless Rehabilitation Saves Grottoes, VA, Culverts—and Money—Without Disrupting Traffic

Shook, W. E. / Arold, R. M. / Shepherd, R. M.

Grottoes, Virginia discovered severe corrosion in portions of their stormwater system during a routine annual inspection in 2013. A large set of elliptical CMP culverts didn’t pass inspection. The culverts were in poor condition with severe corrosion. Individual sections were failing and misaligned, and the town’s consultants recommended replacement. Complicating the issue, the failing pipes were four parallel culverts which are all are quite large, 70” by 44”, running directly underneath Dogwood Avenue, one of Grottoes’ two main thoroughfares. The town obtained cost estimates for trench-and-replace from Brunk & Hylton Engineering, Inc. and, as expected, the price was high and the plan called for significant and lengthy traffic disruptions. Fortunately, Grottoes Town Manager Jeff Nicely had seen a trenchless rehabilitation process called CentriPipe that looked like it could be useful in this situation. In researching the solution, Nicely discovered the project cost was 15 percent less than the dig and replace estimate they had received, and had the added benefit of eliminating weeks of traffic disruptions. This paper will review the breadth of aging infrastructure situation that state and local agencies in the United States are facing, the engineering considerations in addressing failures, and the process, quality control measures, and results of the critical project in Grottoes, Virginia.