What started out as one water line repair grew to a community project.
We had the unique opportunity to install new water lines for several residences on a private street in San Jose. We originally won a job for a single water line replacement for one of the houses on the street. The owner had several previous bids in the 30k-ish range and due to our directional drill capability, we were able to provide her with a more affordable price. She was anxous to get it done quickly as her water service was signifigantly impaired due to a leak.
Her situation is on the high end for a water line replacement due to the distance from her home to the meter. She was over 500′ from the corner where her meter, and those of her neighbors on the street was located. Most neighborhoods in San Jose will have their meter right in front of their homes, usually within 50′. In addition, we needed to work in a paved street, cross infront of other residences and cross other buried utility lines. The distance plus other factors made a new water line on that street a large investment.
Given that the water pipes on her street were of a similar age and that at least one other home on the street already water problems, several of the neighbors decided to group up and take advantage of the opportunity to save a bit on a new water line.
We ultimately installed seven new water lines on that street.
Four new HDPE pipes hooked up to the directional drill, ready to be dragged through.
At this point, we already drilled the initial hole (over 500`) and have attached our reamer to bore the hole to 10″ while simultaneously dragging the new pipe back through.
The last steps of the project is to backfill and cover the holes we made.
For public streets, we must backfill with base rock but since this was a private street, we were able to return the dirt we dug out. As we return the dirt, we mechanically compact it along the way to ensure a solid foundation for the new asphalt.
