The East Calgary Regional Waterline is a 42 kilometer pipeline intended to supply clean, treated drinking water to southern Alberta communities such as Chestermere and Strathmore. As construction nears completion, more and more areas of a high ground-water table are leading to groundwater infiltration in below-grade chambers in the area.

AECOM design engineers identified locations on the line that would experience substantial infiltration. Rather than remedy post-construction water leaks and infiltration issues, they worked with the Martech technical sales team and included PSI Riser-Wrap in their contract specification requirements for “tight” chambers.

Martech's Derek Traquair worked with Bluebird Contracting to create these "tight" chambers by applying Pipeline Seal and Insulator (PSI) Riser-Wrap around the entire chamber. This complete seal will prevent infiltration through the joints as well as weeping infiltration through the concrete itself. Martech trained Bluebird personnel in applying the product and proper installation techniques.

Once the project started, a fresh challenge arose. A steel safety cage was required to prevent trench walls from sloughing back on the excavation. This cage only left 300mm of clearance for crews to install the Riser-Wrap! After consulting with PSI technical experts, a solution was devised: Primer was applied using a long handled roller by personnel on top of the chamber. Then, four strips of 280mm wide Riser-Wrap were used per rotation around the chamber, one on each of the four sides. Riser-Wrap Joiner strips were used to hold each of the sections of Riser-Wrap together. A propane torch with a handle extension was used to apply heat to the Riser-Wrap and bond it to the primer and chamber exterior.

To ensure a positive bond to the concrete, one member from the Bluebird team was able to access the narrow area between the cage and the chamber to smooth out the edges of the Riser-Wrap.

In all, one dozen rolls of PSI Riser-Wrap were used to put a dry chamber into service. Martech was pleased to work with AECOM engineers, Bluebird Contracting and Wolseley Waterworks on this project.

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