News & Project Profiles

The City of Santa Rosa, CA needed to replace an 1,800 foot section of their North Trunk Sewer Main in a heavily traveled area of the city near the courts, administrative offices, and the environmentally sensitive Paulin Creek Reserve. Emergency access to the area needed to be maintained at all times. A dramatic topography meant that some of the homes were 40 feet below the road surface.

As problems arise in older sewer systems, the challenges are becoming more and more common. A developed area with existing utilities, a need to maintain access to residences and businesses, mature trees and landscaping, and a need to replace and enlarge an existing collection line – these are some of the issues we are seeing more frequently.

The City of Milwaukee had a problematic sewer shed. The residents in the area were experiencing frequent basement backups during large rainfall events. The City hired Clark Dietz, Inc. to study the system and identify possible solutions.

The ASTM International published a new standard practice for cleaning vitrified clay pipelines.

Until now, there was not a governing standard applicable to a collections system after it was placed in service.

Did you know that high-pressure jetting of sewer pipes can damage some materials?

“All sewer pipe can be damaged,” says Kent Carlson, vice president of the National Clay Pipe Institute.

Novi, MI is a growing area 25 miles northwest of Detroit. On this PTM project, they ran in to cobbles, flowing sands and dewatering constraints from Environment, Great Lakes & Energy.

The communities of Mission Bay and Pacific Beach, in San Diego, CA (the City) are much like many other oceanfront areas with high tourism, and high-water tables; they have an expectation of, and a need for, uninterrupted services.

The project won the NUCA 2020 Top Jobs category for Sanitary Sewer Collection & Storm Drains.

Stone Age Tools & Kent Carlson

Aggressive cleaning techniques applied within the structure of an SOP (Standard Operating Procedure), are proven to significantly reduce SSOs, restore the designed operational capacity, reduce maintenance costs and extend the service life of the entire system.

San Diego based contractor Ortiz Corporation, chooses trenchless sewer installation using Akkerman Guided Boring Equipment and No-Dig Pipe to help overcome difficult soils and high traffic install

Effective sewer cleaning begins with nozzle selection, and the tier system isn’t as helpful as you might think.

Municipalities across the country are rediscovering the value of the material properties of the Vitrified Clay Pipe (VCP Pipe).