Water Supply Eighty-eight kilometre long water pipeline installed by HDD in rural

n early 2006, the Province of Al- berta announced its decision to begin twinning Highway 63, the Iprovince’s deadliest road. This two-lane undivided highway is the only all-weather road that connects booming Fort McMurray to its southern neigh- bours. In order to accommodate the widen- ing, the Village of Wandering River’s existing water treatment plant had to be demolished. This meant creating a new potable water supply source for the community. Wandering River is located in north- eastern Alberta, 95 km from the Town of Athabasca and 200 km from Fort McMurray. Despite Wandering Riv- er’s population of approximately 100 people, its relative remoteness along Highway 63 makes it of strategic impor- The pump room in the new Wandering River reservoir building. tance to the 11,000 vehicles that travel to and from the Alberta oil sands region Design-build process into three segments with separate in- daily. In order to achieve cost and schedule WHUQDOGHDGOLQHV7KH¿UVWVHJPHQWFRQ- and Alberta Trans- certainty on this time and budget sen- sisted of a 33 km pipeline from Boyle portation determined that a regional po- sitive project, the County and Alberta to Grassland, with the second segment table water supply would be the most Transportation elected to proceed with a being the remaining 55 km of pipeline appropriate replacement water source, GHVLJQEXLOGGHOLYHU\PRGHOWKH¿UVWRI from Grassland to Wandering River. due to a combination of factors. These its kind in the province. This approach The Wandering River reservoir/pump included the quality of water available allowed the owner to reduce overall KRXVHPDGHXSWKH¿QDOVHJPHQWRIWKH through the recently constructed Aspen delivery timelines of the project by as project. The owner’s engineer, Asso- Regional Water system, the remoteness much as 50 per cent. This project was ciated Engineering, supplied Terms of of the community relative to the pop- also seen as a test case for the applica- Reference for the project, which aid- XODWLRQ WKH KLJK GHPDQG IRU TXDOL¿HG tion of the design-build process in fu- ed in streamlining the design process. water treatment plant operators, future ture regional water systems in Alberta. These included several key parameters demand projections for the communi- 7KURXJK D ¿YH PRQWK SURFHVV WKDW for the project including: ty and changing standards for drinking began in 2011 and included pre-quali- • An alignment that extended primarily water quality in Alberta. ¿FDWLRQ VXEPLWWDO RI SURSRVDOV E\ GH- along municipal road allowances, with ,QDGGLWLRQWREHLQJDQHWEHQH¿WWR sign-build proponents, interviews and an additional 5 m right of way added the community of Wandering River, a due diligence, Athabasca County se- to each side of the road. regional water system extension also lected Graham Design Builders, along • System supply pressures, ranging enabled a connection to the community with their key partners Stantec Consult- from 98 to 560 kPa. of Grassland, 55 km to the south. Farms ing Ltd. and Pidherney’s Inc. The de- • A minimum waterline internal diame- and acreage owners along the proposed sign-build team was awarded the project ter of 155 mm. system would also receive water service in late July 2011. Pipeline construction • A minimum line pressure of 98 kPa at connections. began in early September of that year, any point in the system. This new regional line would be 88 with a contract mandated completion of • A pipeline design flow of 2.5 L/s for km in length, extending from Boyle to December 2012. Grassland and 1.5 L/s for Wandering Wandering River via Grassland, includ- River. ing a new potable water reservoir at Terms of reference • A 520 m3 two cell reservoir at Wan- :DQGHULQJ5LYHUDQGUHVHUYRLUPRGL¿- With a 16 month design and con- dering River, with peak hour distribu- cations at Grassland. struction period, the project was split tion pumping capacity of 2.34 L/s and

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a distribution system ranging in pres- age, while preserving the natural habitat factured by IPEX at its plant in Edmon- sure from 350 – 550 kPa. for wildlife. In cultivated areas it min- ton, Alberta, and delivered to the site • Truck-fill systems at Grassland and imized crop damage and reclamation over a four month period beginning in Wandering River, each with a capac- required by private land owners. September 2011. ity of 14 L/s. As a large portion of the waterline This application of FPVC pipe rep- was installed within County road rights- resents both the largest project by length The pipeline of way, this approach also minimized of directionally drilled FPVC and length Horizontal directional drilling (HDD) disruption to motorists and limited the of FPVC installed to date in the world. was selected as the choice method of in- need to disturb private lands. stallation for the pipeline, due to the tight Fusing in winter timelines of this project. Drilling greatly Pipe selection As construction of the pipeline be- reduces potential environmental impacts High density polyethylene (HDPE) gan in September, fusing of the FPVC through minimum disturbance during pipe is more commonly used in HDD pipe was scheduled to continue through construction activities. It is exempt from installations. However, in this case the Alberta’s winter months, which result- the requirement to obtain an approval larger internal diameter of fusible poly- ed in less than ideal fusing conditions. under the Environmental Protection and vinyl chloride (FPVC) pipe allowed the To address this, pipe fusing operations Enhancement Act (EPEA). This exemp- use of 150mm nominal diameter pipe RFFXUUHGLQVLGHDSDLURIUHWUR¿WWHGLQ- tion allowed for a reduction in the overall (155mm internal diameter). The great- sulated shipping containers. Set end- project timeline of up to six months. er wall thickness of HDPE pipe would to-end, this allowed for a temperature While scheduling impacts were the have required the use of 200mm nom- controlled environment for fusing oper- driving factor in the selection of HDD inal diameter pipe. By downsizing the ations, pipe cooling and data collection. installation, it was also recognized that pipe diameter, the project was able to Fusing generally took place one to two this method added value to the project offer a cost savings to the client. FPVC weeks in advance of pipeline installa- in other areas. HDD reduced disturbed Dimension Ration 26 pipe was suitable tion, and the shipping container shelter lands by approximately 90 per cent. for HDD installation, providing the was relocated as needed. This minimized top soil salvage, sub- hydraulics required for the system and soil excavation, add-mixing of soils, suitable pull strength to achieve cost-ef- Wandering River Reservoir re-vegetation, erosion, and crop dam- fective drill length. The pipe was manu- The new Wandering River Reservoir

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was designed to meet the minimum re- quirement of 520m3 of active storage, ZLWKDWZRFHOOFRQ¿JXUDWLRQ7KLVSUR- YLGHGWKHFDSDELOLW\WRLVRODWHDFHOOIRU cleaning or other maintenance, without GLVUXSWLQJ RSHUDWLRQV $OVR LQFOXGHG LQWKHUHVHUYRLUGHVLJQZDVDWUXFN¿OO V\VWHPDODEDVWDQGE\JHQHUDWRUWKUHH GLVWULEXWLRQSXPSVGHVLJQHGWRSURYLGH \HDUSHDNÀRZGHPDQGVDQGDVWDQG- E\SXPS6SDFHZDVDOORFDWHGIRUD¿UH SXPSVKRXOG:DQGHULQJ5LYHU¶VGLVWUL- EXWLRQV\VWHPEHXSJUDGHGLQWKHIXWXUH WRHQDEOH¿UHÀRZGHOLYHU\ $GGLWLRQDO IXWXUH SODQQLQJ ZDV LQ- FRUSRUDWHGLQWRWKHGHVLJQDOORZLQJIRU a twinning of the reservoir, should the FRPPXQLW\JURZEH\RQGLWV\HDUGH- VLJQKRUL]RQ Shipping container shelter configuration used for fusing in winter conditions. Grassland Fill Point WKHQHZUHJLRQDOV\VWHPDWUXFN¿OOVWD- *UDVVODQG )LOO 3RLQW ,W ZDV GHVLUHG SUL- 7KH *UDVVODQG )LOO 3RLQW FRPSRQHQW WLRQDQGDQFLOODU\6&$'$DQGFRPPX- PDULO\WRLQFUHDVHDFWLYHFKRULQHUHVLGXDO RI WKH SURMHFW FRQVLVWHG RI D UHWUR¿W RI QLFDWLRQV V\VWHPV 7KH SODQW¶V H[LVWLQJ LQWKHQHZZDWHUOLQHEHWZHHQ*UDVVODQG WKHH[LVWLQJ*UDVVODQG:DWHU7UHDWPHQW ¿OWHUEDFNZDVKSXPSZDVFRQYHUWHGIRU DQG :DQGHULQJ 5LYHU 7KH OLQH UXQV IRU 3ODQWDQGSRWDEOHZDWHUVWRUDJHUHVHUYRLU XVHLQWKHWUXFN¿OOVWDWLRQ DSSUR[LPDWHO\NPZLWKDQHVWLPDWHG 7KHSURMHFWLQFOXGHGUHPRYDORIH[LVWLQJ ,Q 0D\  WKH RZQHU DSSURDFKHG travel time in the order of two weeks, un- ZDWHUWUHDWPHQWSODQWHTXLSPHQWWKHDG- WKHGHVLJQEXLOGWHDPDERXWWKHDGGLWLRQ GHUDYHUDJHGD\GHPDQGFRQGLWLRQV dition of a metering-run for water from RIDFKORUDPLQHERRVWHUVWDWLRQZLWKLQWKH 7KLVFKDQJHSUHVHQWHGVXEVWDQWLDOGH- VLJQFKDOOHQJHVGXHWRWKHKLJKSUHVVXUH LQWKHV\VWHP !N3D DWWKHLQMHFWLRQ SRLQWWKHORZÀRZLQWKHOLQHDQGWKHUH- TXLUHGDGGLWLRQVRIERWKFKORULQHDQGDP- PRQLDDW*UDVVODQGWRDFKLHYHDKLJKHU FKORUDPLQHFRQFHQWUDWLRQ7KHORZDP- PRQLDGRVLQJZDVHVSHFLDOO\SUREOHPDW- ic, as ammonia solutions were not com- PHUFLDOO\DYDLODEOHLQFRQFHQWUDWLRQVORZ HQRXJKWRDFFRPPRGDWHV\VWHPÀRZV 8OWLPDWHO\LWZDVGHWHUPLQHGWKDWWKH PRVW RSHUDWLRQDOO\ HI¿FLHQW DQG FRVWHI- fective method to achieve the desired OHYHORIFKORUDPLQHGRVLQJLQWKHV\VWHP was to mix an ammonia solution on-site, XVLQJ DPPRQLD LQ SRZGHU IRUP $ WZR ZHHNVXSSO\RIGRVLQJVROXWLRQLVVWRUHG LQGLVWULEXWLRQFRQWDLQHUV7KHFKORUDPLQH ERRVWHUV\VWHPVZHUHGHVLJQHGWREHOR- FDWHG ZLWKLQ WKH IRRWSULQW RI WKH XQXVHG ZDWHUWUHDWPHQWSODQWFODUL¿HUVDQG¿OWHUV

Project execution One of the unique characteristics of WKLVSURMHFWLVWKDWLWZDVGHVLJQHGFRQ- VWUXFWHGDQGSXWLQWRRSHUDWLRQLQMXVW  PRQWKV 7KH TXLFN WXUQDURXQG EH- WZHHQ DZDUG DQG FRQVWUXFWLRQ VWDUWXS ZDVDWWULEXWHGWRDIDVWWUDFNLQJRIPDQ\ RI WKH GHVLJQ DQG UHJXODWRU\ DSSURYDO

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activities. For example, many approv- als for crossing of foreign highways and pipelines and powerlines, as well as environmental features were sought concurrently. Construction proceeded in areas where approvals were in place, even if approvals were still outstanding in nearby areas. While this approach led to several remobilizations across the alignment in the early months of con- struction, it was considered necessary to ensure project timelines were met. Overall, the directional drilling com- Reservoir commissioning with the majority of stakeholders represented. SRQHQWRIWKHSURMHFWSURFHHGHGZHOO¿Q- ishing in April 2012, two months ahead tions during reservoir leakage testing served to reduce costs, decrease con- of schedule. Commissioning of the work DQG D QXPEHU RI WUXFN¿OO UHGHVLJQV struction timelines, minimize environ- ZDV FRPSOHWHG LQ VHJPHQWV ¿UVW ZLWK construction proceeded smoothly. De- mental impacts, and reduce disturbance “bump tests”, or short duration pressure spite the challenges, the reservoir was to private land owners and motorists. tests, undertaken in advance of system completed and put into service in Sep- Wandering River’s Pipeline/Reservoir swabbing. This was followed by full tember 2012, three months ahead of provides a long-term, reliable solution for length pressure testing and disinfection. schedule. clean and safe drinking water to key com- &RPPLVVLRQLQJ RI WKH ¿UVW VHJPHQW With this project, Alberta embarked munities along the Alberta energy corri- of the line, from Boyle to Grassland oc- RQDVLJQL¿FDQWQHZFKDSWHULQWKHFRQ- dor and the rural residents in between for curred over a six week period in January struction of potable water systems. The many years to come. It was completed on and February. It was brought into ser- design-build team undertook this proj- budget and ahead of schedule. vice in mid-February. Commissioning of ect with the understanding that success the second segment, from Grassland to or failure here would directly impact Recognition Wandering River was completed in July future opportunities to carry forward The project won a 2014 Award of Ex- ¿YHPRQWKVDKHDGRIVFKHGXOH the design-build methodology for oth- cellence for Water Resources and Ener- Warmer than average temperatures er municipal water systems. Through a gy Production from the Consulting En- in January and February 2012 allowed committed team effort from the own- gineers of Alberta, and 2013 Project of for construction of the reservoir to begin ers, operators, designers, contractors, the Year from the Alberta Public Works ahead of schedule. Though there were a sub-contractors and others, this project Association. number of small delays common to the ZDVDGH¿QLWHVXFFHVV region, such as the delay in installation The innovative technologies em- For more information, E-mail: RI WKH JDV XWLOLW\ WHPSHUDWXUH ÀXFWXD- ployed in the completion of this project [email protected]

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