IMPROVING SEWER SYSTEM IN SULLIVAN. Crews from Insituform began rehabbing sewer lines in Sullivan this week with it's cured-in-place-pipe technology. The fabric is shown being blown into older sewer main along North and Sounth Rd. The product will give the existing lines a 100 year lifespan

By James B. Bartle
Sullivan residents along Hughes Ford Rd. or North and South Rd. may have been surprised this week to see crews from Insituform placing what appeared to be a flat white material into sewer manholes this week, but surprisingly the product is bringing, basically, new pipe to infrastructure plagued by age and infiltration issues.
The company, Insituform, is a pioneer in cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) technology. The company has installed over 19,000 miles of CIPP worldwide and the CIPP process is suited for wastewater pipeline repair and can be used to rehabilitate sanitary sewers, storm sewers and force mains. The product is used in lines from 6 to 96 inches.
Sullivan city engineerm Robert Schaffer, explained that the product, which is made of a felt material, is air forced into the existing sewer lines, after they’ve been cleaned out of roots by Insituform with their robot technology, and then, through steam technology, the material is blown up to bond with the existing sewer pipe and cured, which prevents any infiltration of water or roots into the existing system. All this is done without having to replace existing sewer lines, without trenching property that can be cumbersome to repair and landscape as well as providing no damage to existing trees.
“Many cities are using this product to improve their sewer lines and prevent infiltration into the sewer lines,” said Schaffer. “The product has a 100-year life span versus a 50-year lifespan if you replace the existing sewer pipe with new pipe. We were able to join the city of Independence who had a contract with Insituform and use their pricing for our lines. We placed the product in pipe along North and South Rd. to Elbert St. and on Hughes Ford Rd.”
Schaffer stated that the city had 1,800 ft. of CIPP placed in the sewer lines at a cost of $74,000.
“If you were to replace these sewer lines with new pipe, I believe the last bid I received was at $32.50 per ft. for eight-inch line and, with this product, we paid $36 per ft. Thus, we may have paid a little more, but we didn’t have to close any streets, we didn’t have trenches dug, we didn’t have to replace landscape, sidewalk or asphalt, and we have a 100-year lifespan on the product. It just makes better sense with what we were trying to accomplish,” said Schaffer.
Schaffer stated that this wasn’t the first time the City of Sullivan has used this product with Insituform, as they used CIPP on a line running through the Sullivan Golf Course. The product prevented the city from having to use costly trenching through the golf course and damaging the greens.