Underground Construction - October 2021 - 32

2021 CAPABILITIES GUIDE
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
Ferratex Solutions & PCC Trenchless Install:
Three, 65 ft, 72 " Felt Liners and a TON of Rain...
Near Pensacola, FL, the residents of Santa Rosa County will tell you, Ward
Basin Road is known for being very wet, even in times of drought. After Santa
Rosa repaved the road, they found that the large, underlying 72 " corrugated
metal pipes (CMP) installed sometime in the 1970s were beginning to
deteriorate, full of water from the Yellow River and Blackwater Bay. And, as the
river and bay rise, so does the water level on Ward Basin Road.
Add to that, Ward Basin is a long, dead-end road surrounded by water.
Replacing the pipes with open cut would have been an access nightmare
for residents who live towards the end of the road, not to mention damage
the brand-new asphalt paving.
Santa Rosa County sought bids for CIPP repair and awarded the contract
to PCC Trenchless (PCC). PCC has been in Pensacola, Florida since 1963
and began their work with utilities in 1970. Previously named Pensacola
Concrete Construction, PCC still stands as one of the oldest companies in
the Pensacola area. PCC began spreading their utility services in 1999, and
began providing all sorts of trenchless pipe repairs.
After one delay in the Notice to Proceed (NTP), due to COVID and it being
a very hot start to the summer (resin-soaked liners don't do well in the heat),
PCC was given the green light to proceed with the Ward Basin CIPP install in
July. It was determined that three 72 " felt liners were needed, each 65 feet in
length. PCC purchased AquaCure PU coated liners, manufactured by Applied
Felts and wet-out by FerraTex Solutions. Applied Felts/FerraTex was chosen
due to their quality, customer service, price and ability to deliver. FerraTex
wet-out the three liners in their facility in Tennessee, carefully packed ice in
between the diff erent layers, and shipped them in their refrigerator truck to
PCC in early July 2021. The truck could not hold all three of these monstrous
liners, PCC and FerraTex decided to ship 2 of the liners on the fi rst shipment,
then the 3rd shipped two weeks later.
Upon arrival, rain began in the area for a solid three weeks. Originally,
PCC had planned to transfer the liners from FerraTex's rental trailer, into
their own 53' refrigerator trailer, but after attempting to transfer the liners
using their own CAT 938 loader with construction forks, they realized
they needed to fi nd something larger to handle the 72 " liners. Searching
throughout Pensacola, they reached out to Cowin Equipment who had a
Volvo L120 with forks. Cowin did not mind lending a hand, so PCC brought
their reefer and the FerraTex reefer to Cowin's yard in Pensacola. When they
attempted to make the transfer, the pallet holding the 2 72 " liners began to
crush due to the sheer weight of the two 72 " liners. Each weighed 15,000
lbs. (200 lbs. per LF). " They were literally, the largest liners anyone has ever
installed in Pensacola, " said Ben Joyner, President, PCC. PCC was able to
take over the rental from FerraTex for the trailer the liners were in. As it
continued to rain, the liners ended up sitting in the refrigerator truck, in
the PCC yard. " Because FerraTex did such a great job icing, the liners were
saved, no issues whatsoever, in the summer, in Florida, for three weeks.
Note, large diameter impregnated liners generate a lot of heat due to the
sheer mass of resin and liner material involved, " said Joyner.
With a break in the rain after three weeks after the liners were delivered
(as well as the delivery of project manager, Drew Matthews and his wife
Zoey's third baby boy!) PCC was able to set up on-site and start the
dewatering process. As they attempted to divert/dewater using their normal
techniques, it became apparent that they wouldn't suffi ce. " We explored
using sheet pilings but due to the distance from the usable Right-of-Way,
existing underground utilities (phone, fi ber optic and potable water),
overhead powerlines, and thick vegetation/trees, sheet piling wasn't an
option. A traditional coff erdam would require hauling in several hundred
cubic yards of soil which the county would not allow to be dumped into the
watershed. We had to improvise using " bulk bags " which hold a single cubic
yard of dirt and are made of the same material as sandbags, to coff erdam
and divert the water, " said Matthews.
" It was very challenging from the start. Santa Rosa County employees
were on site in the beginning. They saw the amount of water we were
dealing with and shook their heads and wished us luck! It was like pushing
water up a hill, as soon as we got ahead, another storm came, " said Joyner.
Due to the three 72 " diameter pipes being side-by-side, the water was
diverted to fl ow through one pipe and the other two pipes were isolated in
order to fi t large scaff olding in front of the host pipes for installation. PCC
used fi ve 6 " pumps to divert from the upstream side of the road through
the discharge pipe, which ran into the woods. An additional 6 " pump on
the downstream side helped divert water out of the work area. Once the
uphill battle against water diversion, rainstorms, and high tide was won,
installation began.
A large excavator was brought in to lift each 15,000lb liner ten feet to
the top of the scaff olding. Water curing was chosen over steam or UV.
Ironically, there wasn't a hydrant close enough to fi ll the liner (which would
take 10,000 gallons during the install for each liner). So, water was pumped
from the basin that they were fi ghting to keep at bay! Win win.
In the end, all the liners came out beautiful, sandbags were taken out,
and the site was restored to the point that no one would know it had been
completely revitalized, " said Matthews.
32 OCTOBER 2021 | UCONonline.com
FerraTex Solutions: Ferratex.com, (844) 433-7728
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Underground Construction - October 2021

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