The Path Forward for Pipe Bursting Asbestos Cement Pipe

摘要

The city of Casselberry completed its $10.3 million asbestos cement (AC) pre-chlorinated potable water main pipernbursting project in April of 2014, which replaced approximately 35 miles of AC pipe. City staff has worked closelyrnwith the contractor, engineers, and regulators from the local to federal government to fully understand the applicabilityrnof the National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) to pipe bursting of asbestos cementrnpipe. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and industry representatives have recognized the need tornunderstand the potential environmental impacts of AC pipe rehabilitation and commissioned a study to determinernthose impacts. The environmental impacts of pipe bursting AC pipe have been analyzed with the Casselberry WaterrnQuality Improvement Project as its pilot project. Results of the study indicate that bursting AC pipe is environmentallyrnfriendly while providing the option to rehabilitate the existing pipeline in place. This paper will present the results ofrnimpact study of pipe bursting AC pipe while clearly describing how to burst AC pipelines and meet all existingrnregulations. This paper will also describe the challenges and successes of implementing a pipe bursting project, fromrnfield application of pipe bursting technology to working directly with regulators and right-of-way controllers who mayrnbe skeptical about pipe bursting AC pipe. A potential path forward through submission of a potential AdministratorrnApproved Alternate to EPA that accepts a streamlined AC pipe bursting process will also be presented.