Construction cost of underground infrastructure renewal: A comparison of traditional open-cut and pipe bursting technology.

摘要

Renewal of aging underground infrastructure is a major challenge that municipalities in North America face every day. Traditional replacement or renewal of these underground utilities uses open-cut excavation methods that can be disruptive to everyday life of citizens and expensive, particularly in built-up areas and in projects with difficult ground and site conditions. In contrast, trenchless technologies use innovative methods, materials, and equipment that require minimum surface excavation to renew and construct aging underground infrastructure. These new methods are considered to be more safe, cost-effective, efficient and productive than conventional open-cut projects. However, to select trenchless technologies in utility design, consulting engineers and utility owners need to compare their costs with open-cut methods.;This research provides a basis for cost comparison of pipe bursting as a trenchless technology and traditional open-cut method. There is a case study in this research as an example for cost comparison of replacing the sewer pipeline in the City of Troy, Michigan. The results of the research indicates that pipe bursting in many cases would be less expensive than the open-cut method and by using trenchless methods, such as pipe bursting, municipalities and utility owners could save millions of dollars in the renewal of their of underground pipeline systems.