Philadelphia Awards Insituform Contract to Rehab Sewer Pipes

The Philadelphia Water Department (PWD) recently awarded Insituform Technologies Inc. a $6 million contract to rehabilitate approximately 10,000 ft of sanitary sewer pipes that run beneath the urban meadows of one of Philadelphia’s largest parks.

The project will rehabilitate 12- to 60-in. diameter sanitary sewers that primarily lie underneath Tacony Creek Park, which includes 302 acres of meadows, wetlands, green space and 2.5 miles of creekside trails inside the Olney Neighborhood on the north side of Philadelphia. Work on this project, with pipes estimated to be more than 100 years old, will begin in November and take approximately one year to complete.

Philadelphia has a long-standing tradition of being a leader in water technologies. In fact, Philadelphia created the nation’s first water system in the 19th century. Jeff Twardzik, assistant engineering supervisor for the Philadelphia Water Department, said, “This process allows us to stay at the forefront of technology and completely rehabilitate the sewer without disrupting the local ecosystem and park areas. The project will also be running concurrently with a stream restoration project and a combined sewer overflow project in the same area. The Insituform process allows us to work alongside these important projects without interruption. PWD is excited to be working with Insituform again.”