he main water pipeline in Wellway Park East in Durbanville is up for a major upgrade when – only in the first of two phases of the project – about two kilometres of pipe will be replaced in the next four to five months.
This area was scheduled for a pipe replacement after a spike in burst pipes in recent years, says Zahid Badroodien, the City of Cape Town’s Mayco member for water and sanitation.
Site camp location
The project was recently launched with an onsite commencement meeting at the site in Tambotie Street – on the corner of Tambotie Street and Langeberg Road. This site will also be the site camp location for the duration of the project.
The first phase with a total cost of about R4,9 million (excluding VAT) will focus on the outside ring of Wellway Park East. It will include Dahlia Close, part of Tambotie Crescent and Primula Avenue.
Phase 1 will be a combination of replacing 110 mm and 160 mm high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipes and upsizing certain sections in the area, says Badroodien. The commencement of the second phase has been earmarked for early in the new financial year.
Run concurrently
The cost of the second phase, which will run concurrently with the first phase once it has started, will be made available in due course. This phase will complete the remaining internal watermains, Badroodien says.
“A trenchless method of rehabilitation will be used across the two projects. Pipe cracking is a far more cost-effective way of rehabilitating pipes and far less intrusive as it offers minimal disruption to above- ground activities, especially in built-up and well-developed areas,” he explains.
“A new pipe made from high-density polyethylene is drawn along behind the cracking device, leaving the old pipe fragments surrounding the newly installed pipe in the ground.=
Pipe cracking
“Pipe cracking is useful in areas where access for other methods is difficult, or not necessary, and offers the option of size for size pipe replacement, as well as the option of upsizing if the demand is greater in the area,” Badroodien says.
