Water main replacement in the works

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This article was published 29/07/2023 (1163 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The City of Brandon is gearing up to replace a large section of water mains along 18th Street North from Braecrest Drive to the Trans-Canada Highway.

In a tender issued earlier this month, the city stated that it wants the winning bidder to complete the work by June 30, 2024.

Most of the work will be completed on the southbound lane of the street, though a couple of areas on the northbound lane will be worked on as well.

Depending on the topography, some water mains being replaced are more than three metres below the surface.

The city indicates in the tender that it would like as much of the work as possible to be done in a trenchless methods — one where placement of new pipes and mains are done using horizontal drilling that prevents the need for large access trenches to be dug.

If the contractor can prove that trenchless methods won’t work, the city is willing to consider the allowance of open-cut techniques.

The tender document states that traffic disruptions are anticipated.

“Any closure or blockage of traffic shall be as brief as possible and at no time shall any one city block be isolated from emergency services except during the actual carrying out of the work,” the document states.

“During any such closure, the contractor shall provide and maintain a signed detour route for the safe movement of both vehicular and pedestrian traffic.”

On top of that, the contractor is supposed to make sure that nearby businesses can be accessed during regular hours and to make sure access isn’t denied to cul-de-sacs, residential driveways and parking spaces.

Before any roads are closed to carry out work, the contractor will be required to give 48-hour notice to emergency services, Brandon Transit, the city’s public works department and the media.

Any sewers or watermains that will be abandoned after the work but not removed from the ground will be required to be sealed with concrete. Hydrants removed during the work will also have their connections plugged with concrete.

After the new main is installed, the water quality inside it must be tested to make sure it matches that of the wider water distribution system before it can be hooked up to the network.

Once work on the mains is finished, the contractor will be responsible for restoring the road above.

Bids for the tender closed Friday.

» cslark@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @ColinSlark