Posted on: Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Sewer pipe fix expected to be tough task
| • | Map: New and old sewer pipes |
By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer
A sewer pipe that was accidentally ruptured by a construction crew on Thursday is a major link in the city's sewage system that has been in service for less than six months and will be difficult to repair, officials say.
The $20 million "force main" runs beneath Honolulu Harbor and carries sewage under high pressure from a pump station on Hart Street to the city's main wastewater treatment plant on Sand Island.
About 20,000 gallons of raw sewage spewed from the broken 48-inch pipe into a parking lot beside the plant, but the spill was contained and there is no danger that untreated sewage will pollute the ocean, city environmental services director Frank Doyle said.
"None reached the harbor at all," he said. "My guys did a bang-up job."
Permanently fixing the damage will be a tough task, though, because work can't start until the pipe is completely shut down, he said. That will require the city to reactivate an old high-pressure pipe that the damaged one had replaced, so the sewage flow can be diverted. Temporary connecting pipes and valves are also needed.
Repairs could take several months, but crews will have to excavate the area around the cracked force main and thoroughly inspect it before a more definite time frame can be set, Doyle said. He said it's too soon to know how much repairs could cost.
And it's not clear who is responsible for causing the damage, or who will pay to fix it.
A crew from Jas. W. Glover LTD struck the pipe while installing a foundation for a new Hawaiian Electric Co. power transmission line on Sand Island Access Road.
Plans supplied by HECO did not show the pipe, so the crew did not know it was there, Glover vice president John Romanowski said.
HECO spokeswoman Lynne Unemori said the plans had been inspected and approved by the city's Department of Planning and Permitting, and that no one had indicated a major new sewer line ran under the work site.
"We would have expected that it would have been flagged when we went in for the approval to do the work," she said. " ... We got the required review prior to commencing the work, but the focus right now would be to make sure things get fixed on that we're able to go on and safely proceed with the rest of the project."
But city design and construction director Eric Crispin said plans are reviewed mainly to ensure they conform to building codes, and that approving them doesn't guarantee a contractor won't strike a utility line.
"It's the applicant's responsibility to verify existing conditions," he said.
Sewage is being diverted from the damaged force main through portable pipes and a truck-mounted pump that's connected to the sewage treatment plant, in an industrial area away from homes and businesses. There are no immediate neighbors except a shipping pier across the highway.
The force main was installed as part of a major expansion of the plant that is expected to cost nearly $400 million. The new power line will connect with a new HECO substation being built on the treatment plant site to support the expansion, Unemori said.
Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.
