It’s not uncommon for utility crews in Durango to break ground and find an old water or sewer pipe that isn’t where infrastructure maps say it should be.
“We’ve been running into these situations where we’ll start digging and we’ll say, ‘Well, the 16-inch waterline is supposed to be over there but it’s right here where we need to put our storm/sewer,’” said Laura Rieck, spokeswoman for Durango Public Works.
A contractor recently encountered a misplaced pipe in a downtown Durango alley. Rieck said the contractor was digging to repair a private sewer line when they uncovered a clay storm pipe crushing a clay sewer line. The sewer pipe spans the full length of the alley.
She said a sewer overflow was avoided only because the pipe had a polymer lining. The city performed a temporary patch, but the pipe requires immediate repair and replacement.
The job will have minimal impact on residents, though it will disrupt alley services for a day or less. The project is expected to cost $350,750.
“It’s a huge issue,” said City Councilor Kip Koso.
Rieck said inspections haven’t uncovered similar issues in other alleys. But the pipe in question was installed an estimated 65 years ago, and the city has no records of other alleys where that contractor may have worked.
While that particular repair won’t take long, Rieck said Public Works has a plan to accommodate residents who temporarily lose water or sewer service.
Specifically, the city would open the rec center for residents who need showers and restrooms, and ensure they have access to drinking water, she said.
It is not the first time crews have encountered underground surprises.
The North College Drive construction project – which began last year and picked up again this spring – includes upgrades to water, sewer and stormwater infrastructure.
“The project itself couldn’t begin on time due to existing waterline valve failures requiring replacements,” she said. “Then we had water main breaks and discovered an entire cul-de-sac had Orangeburg sewer pipe rather than clay or plastic pipe.”
An August 2017 report on Durango’s aging infrastructure said Orangeburg lines are among Durango’s oldest and are failing “with predictable frequency.”
Public Works requested a nearly $1 million budget amendment, including $547,000 from a 2019 sales tax fund and $400,000 from a water construction fund, to complete the reconstruction project.
“We would not have had to do road reconstruction … had we not had to tear it up to replace that Orangeburg pipe and the water infrastructure underneath it,” Rieck said.
She said one thing the city learned from the North College Drive project is that more design-phase work is needed to identify underground utilities.
“We can’t just rely on (Colorado) 811 to come in and locate underground utilities,” she said. “We need to do ground-penetrating radar. We need to do potholing. So we need to lay eyes on the utilities that are underground.”
Last fall, former Interim Public Works Director Bob Lowry said the city lacks the funding and staff to properly maintain its stormwater infrastructure. In December, Durango City Council approved the creation of a stakeholder committee to explore funding options for stormwater and infrastructure repairs.
cburney@durangoherald.com
