Denver cone zones: Water lines
| July 23, 2009 | 2:36 PM
More journal entries from Tillie Fong »
If Congress Park seems like a maze this summer with roving street excavations, it’s because Denver Water is rehabilating a water main.
The $2 million project involves cleaning out 20,000 to 25,000 feet of old cast-iron pipes, then putting in a cement mortar liner. The pipes range in size from 6 inches to a foot in diameter.
“This restores the capacity of the pipe and also ensures a high level of taste and clarity,” said Stacy Chesney, spokeswoman for Denver Water. “We also add and replace valves and upgrade the fire hydrants at the same time.”
Rehabilitating water mains this way is usually 25 percent to 50 percent less expensive than putting in new ones. It is also less disruptive to customers, who are put on a bypass system for about two weeks while the main is shut down.
Currently, crews are at work in two spots: Detroit Street, between 11th and 13th avenues, and Fillmore Street, between Colfax Avenue and 11th Avenue. The rehabilitation work in both areas will be finished this week.
However, another stretch of Fillmore Street will be worked on next week, as crews make their way south to Sixth Avenue.
About 30,000 feet of unlined pipes are in the Congress Park area, and crews likely will work through September or even October to get as much done this year as possible.
Denver Water has about 450 miles of cast-iron pipes that need to be lined.
“This is an annual project,” Chesney said.
So, next summer, don’t be surprised if Denver Water crews are digging into the streets again, perhaps even in your neighborhood.
cement mortar liner, Congress Park, Denver Water, Stacy Chesney
