Piping up: $A136 million of upgrades underway in Queensland

Brisbane’s oldest and largest sewer pipe will receive an $A130 million upgrade using Trenchless Technology, announced Queensland Urban Utilities. Up to 5.7 km of concrete pipe in the 12 km S1 Main Sewer will be relined with polyethylene via spiral winding. The project will be carried out in several phases, with work on phase one – a 1.3 km section of pipe along Kingsford Smith Drive between Hunt St and Riverview Terrace – due to start in March 2015 and finish by mid-2016. According to Queensland Urban Utilities, the sewer, which turns a century old this year, carries 60 per cent of the city’s sewage beneath one of Brisbane’s busiest traffic corridors. Hand-built by miners almost a century ago using traditional tunnelling methods, the S1 Main Sewer services around 750,000 people. With the pipeline spanning 1.5 m in diameter and buried eight stories beneath the ground, the spiral winding project is one of the most unique sewer projects to be undertaken in Australia, said Queensland Urban Utilities CEO Louise Dudley. “We’ll be using the latest Trenchless Technology to reline the old concrete pipe with a new pipe made from polyethylene. These works will extend the operational life of the pipe by at least another 50 years.” Ms Dudley also said the pipeline’s size, age and depth will make the project very challenging. However, once the works are complete, the operational life of the pipe will be extended by “at least another 50 years”. The sewer will be relined from James Street in Fortitude Valley to the Eagle Farm pump station in Bunya St, with rehabilitation carried out in conjunction with the Kingsford Smith Drive Upgrade to minimise the impact on traffic and the community. The entire project is due to be completed by 2019. $A6.5 million boost for Springfield’s water network Also in February, Queensland Urban Utilities announced an $A6.5 million investment to upgrade part of the water network of the satellite city of Springfield. Known as the Springfield Trunk Water Main Replacement Project, up to 4 km of large water pipes will be replaced. Once completed in mid-2015, the upgrade will extend the operational life of the local network by at least 60 years, said Queensland Urban Utilities spokesperson Michelle Cull.