The National Park Service (NPS) engaged CDM to design and construct improvements to
its Flamingo water system, including the complete replacement of its water distribution
system. The Flamingo area is the largest developed area within Everglades National Park
(Park) and includes a visitor's center, restaurant facilities, and housing to accommodate
visitors from all over the world. The existing water distribution system consists of 25,000
linear feet of 6-, 4-inch asbestos concrete and polyvinyl chloride water mains. The
majority of the distribution system was constructed in 1947.
The plan for the water distribution system replacement utilized almost entirely trenchless
construction, minimizing impacts to valuable environmentally sensitive and irreplaceable
natural resources; the main distribution lines were replaced using high-density
polyethylene (HDPE) pipeline by the pipe bursting method. The polyethylene pipelines
were pre-chlorinated to disinfect and bacteriologically clear the line above ground prior
to installation. This allowed the new lines to be placed into service immediately with
minimal disruption to the visitors and residents at the Park. This project is the largest
application to date in total linear footage of this technology in North America.
This paper documents the installation of the new pipelines, focusing on the
use of pipe bursting and pre-chlorination techniques.