After months of delays caused in part by pandemic-related supply-chain issues, the repairs to Disharoon Lake are not only underway but are hitting a key phase.
This week, crews fused together 40-foot-long segments of high-density polyethylene pipe with a specialized device that heats the plastic to 450 degrees and forces the ends together, which forms a bond stronger than the pipe itself. As new pieces were joined together, the newly lengthened pipe was pulled, bit by bit, into the old, slightly wider, damaged pipe. The entire fusing and pulling stage was completed around noon Thursday.
Next up: Crews are scheduled to create a pipe bulkhead, which connects the lower-level outlet – essentially the drain to Disharoon – to the just-installed pipe. And next week, the team will inject a high-strength concrete grout to fill the subterranean voids between the new pipe and the older damaged pipe This will help secure and protect the new pipe under the weight of the earthen dam that created Disharoon Lake, which the POA is aiming to re-open for summertime fun in mid-July.
To read more about all things Disharoon, please check out the June 9 post on the project.
This 10,000-pound pipe fusion machines heat up the ends of pipes and fittings to 450 degrees, then forces them together to form a bond.
The post Crucial Disharoon Lake pipe installation is underway, on schedule appeared first on Inside the Gates.