Damage to an underwater dual water trunk main at Jindalee, sustained during the 2011 flood and compounded by\u00a0<\/b>subsequent river flows, was recently repaired using innovative engineering solutions<\/b>.<\/b><\/p>\n
Built in the 1950s, the main, known as the\u00a0Jindalee River Crossing, is unique because\u00a0it was laid in the river bed when most other\u00a0crossings are on bridges or in tunnels.<\/p>\n
It is believed a shipping container rolling\u00a0along the riverbed during the 2011 flood\u00a0initially damaged the pipeline. Since that\u00a0time, water supply to Mount Ommaney\u00a0and Jindalee has been maintained using an\u00a0Seqwater-owned crossing from Mt Crosby,\u00a0however the repair was essential to ensure\u00a0a reliable and secure water network for customers into the future.<\/p>\n
Innovative team work was required to\u00a0overcome many challenges during the\u00a0repair task, which was undertaken by\u00a0QUU\u2019s Civil Maintenance Delivery team\u00a0with the support of a diving contractor.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur initial repair attempts using gibault\u00a0joints (clamps used to join sections of pipe)\u00a0were unable to withstand further flooding,\u00a0so we needed a more robust welding\u00a0solution,\u201d said Manager Major Contracts and\u00a0Budget, Daniel Faccio, who led the project.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo manage the harsh environment, which\u00a0included working underwater with poor\u00a0visibility, tidal movements, high currents,\u00a0shifting silt and a changing riverbed, a\u00a0purpose-built \u2018habitat\u2019 for the divers\u00a0was created from an inverted shipping\u00a0container,\u201d explained Daniel.<\/p>\n
\u201cDemonstrating QUU\u2019s careful attention\u00a0to safety, we requested the diving\u00a0contractor use electronic shark repellent\u00a0to mitigate the risk of sharks in the river,\u201d\u00a0said Daniel. \u201cIt was the “first time the\u00a0contractor had been asked to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other unique aspects of the repair\u00a0included using underwater CCTV vision,\u00a0and pumping clear water into the \u2018habitat\u2019\u00a0to stabilise the work environment and\u00a0ensure quality control around the welding.<\/p>\n
Three divers did rotating welding shifts\u00a0about 10 metres below the surface\u00a0of the Brisbane River upstream from\u00a0the Centenary Bridge, with the two\u00a0replacement pipe insertions being about\u00a0one metre long and 550mm in diameter.\u00a0Of the dual main, only one of the pipes has\u00a0been repaired, as a replacement main is due\u00a0to be constructed by the end of 2015.<\/p>\n
See the Urban Utilities<\/a> article here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Damage to an underwater dual water trunk main at Jindalee, sustained during the 2011 flood and compounded by\u00a0subsequent river flows, was recently repaired using innovative engineering solutions. Built in the 1950s, the main, known as the\u00a0Jindalee River Crossing, is unique because\u00a0it was laid in the river bed when most other\u00a0crossings are on bridges or in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marineenginedive.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marineenginedive.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marineenginedive.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marineenginedive.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marineenginedive.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.marineenginedive.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":101,"href":"https:\/\/www.marineenginedive.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88\/revisions\/101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marineenginedive.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marineenginedive.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marineenginedive.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}