The City enlisted the assistance and expertise of multiple organizations to conduct the high stakes repairs swiftly and safely
When an air valve broke on a pipe under the Knight Street Bridge, it triggered a repair process involving multiple organizations, innovative solutions and extensive safety measures. Why? Because the water main pipe was more than 26.5 metres above the Fraser River.
When made aware of the leak, the City of Richmond’s Water Services crew quickly throttled down the water pressure on the affected pipe to stop chlorinated water from leaking into the river. The City continued to provide a reliable water supply to Mitchell Island using a secondary pipe.
That was just the first of many steps.
“We knew that the complexity of the work under the bridge would take time to plan and complete due to a variety of challenges,” says Bryan Shepherd, Manager, Water Services, Engineering and Public Works for the City of Richmond.
Making repairs required extensive safety measures and a process to get permission from the bridge owner, TransLink, to access the damaged pipe. With the approval process underway, City staff piloted a drone to assess the damaged area and confirmed that a broken air valve was the source of the leak.
The Water Services crew could finally start planning. The first big challenges were the elevation of the pipe and the safety of the repair crew. The Occupational Health and Safety team, Richmond Water Services and Richmond Fire Rescue worked to ensure workers had all the necessary fall protection training and equipment, and a fall plan. Another challenge was peregrine falcons in the area; an environmental consultant was brought in to ensure the safety of both the birds and the workers.
Murray Barstow, a Water Services Supervisor, organized a volunteer team that was trained in fall protection, ticketed for utility repair and comfortable with working 26.5 metres in the air.
After two months of planning, obtaining government approvals, ensuring safety measures were in place and taking steps to protect the falcons, the repairs could finally proceed.
Water Services staff members Colin Hutchinson and Ken Laboucane performed the work on the bridge while two firefighters stayed on the catwalk in case rescue was needed. Eight more firefighters remained on the ground to assist in the event of an emergency and helped raise and lower equipment using a pulley system. The Water Services staff replaced the basketball-sized air valve, installed a shut-off valve and replaced about four feet of pipe — all in four hours. There was also a 30-minute halt in the work to allow time for the falcons in the area to calm down.
When the aerial portion of the work was complete, the Water Services crew injected high-concentration chlorine into the water in the 450 mm pipe and let it sit for 24 hours to disinfect the watermain. After the chlorine was released, the quality of the water was tested. Once the results came back three days later, the water was turned back on.
Thanks to collaboration, training and innovation, the water main repairs were completed safely and the pipe connecting two communities in Richmond is again secure and fully operational.