Need as many opinions as possible

[russellsmiler]

Hello all
I am in a bit of a pickle and don't want to let a friend down.
in mid wales a new bypass is being built round our town, a friend whose land is being cut in two by the bypass, his 25mm (black plastic) (may be 20mm) the bypass contractor as ducted under the new road and inserted a section of 32mm Blue alcathene and thus created two reducer/enlarger joints at either side of the new road.
tonight at 5.oopm I am meeting with my friend and the contractor chiefs as I am to survey the pipe either side of the road and take levels on the new road to estimate the buried depth of this water service. my friend wants me to tackle any other issues regarding this pipe. can I ask anyone to comment on the following
1. What accreditation should the operatives of had to disconnect and reconnect the service pipe
2. is there any potential issues with a section of 32mm pipe in the middle of a 500meter 25mm water pipe.
3. are the two joints he now as a potential net loss to his potential for leaks?

And I suppose any other valuable comments regarding this please.

many thanks
Russell

 

[Madrab]

Erm ... not wishing to sound condescending .... but if you aren't skilled enough to survey a supply pipe that's being modified to accommodate this bypass then really you shouldn't be doing it. The rights and wrongs of this service work and what the water service now looks like or how it will perform will be longstanding information and really needs a professional that can survey properly, test and then write a report and stand by it later if something goes wrong.

You probably won't get any professional willing to stick his neck out and say that the work is going to be ok only on a few words on a public forum I'm afraid.

Surely the water supplier is getting involved?

 

[russellsmiler]

sorry madrab, if you read you will see that my task is to take survey levels either side of the road to determine the potential depth of the service in the new road surface, I think 35 years setting out construction for both line and level should suffice as enough skill to undertake this. My friend is just looking for healthy discussion on the three points listed, I am not there to write some report.

 

[ianmcd]

why mention the differing sizes in pipe diameter ? if you are merely surveying the depth of cover then why would the diameter of the pipe matter ?

 

[Madrab]

Sorry russellsmiler, I read it as it was written?? The questions your are asking is about whether the chaps service with be affected or will have issues long term given the changes they have made?? I did understand you have to survey to understand what the level of the service pipe will be once the road is finished and I assume 35 years of construction setting out experience will ensure that he knows that information and can rely on it going forward.

What that 35years of experience wont give him is the answers to the other questions you are asking and as far as they are concerned then my answer still stands. Appreciate now that he isn't looking for a report as that wasn't clear but if I was wanting to ensure my altered water service was all done correctly, then I'd want it in black and white, just in case.

My other question still stands though, are the water authority involved with this work? I assume they will be given this will be a local authority driven project. If so then no need for any other questions - the resource dong the work will have the necessary qualifications, permissions and guarantee's in place to ensure that the work is being done properly, if anything happens then it's down to them to fix. If you chap is concerned then I'd suggest he takes it up with the supplier/LA to ensure everything is being done correctly.

 

[Ian H]

I repair leaks for a living and only have a EUSR National Water Hygiene Card relating to water qualifications. No doubt there will be less qualified guys who are better and more qualified guy who are worse than me, you can't really go wrong unless you are rough and get debris in the pipe.

The section of 32mm won't make a difference. If you wanted a more similar sized pipe you could get some black or blue 20/25mm and feed it through the ducting.

The fittings will probably be Philmac 32-25mm UTC's and are very good. I would have the fittings as far from the road as possible and map their locations just in case.

 

[dilalio]

This sounds like another case of "I don't want this work to happen, but I'm powerless to stop it". So, to further object, the "victim" (and his associates) question the competence of those undertaking the work. It matters not... The fact that it is a civil/LA project should mean you are covered for future issues... This is the most important aspect of the project and the OP's friend would be more use to him if he was a solicitor rather than a surveyor.

 

[Madrab]

Just to qualify Ian's statement, I am fully accredited and a WRAS (Water regs and Scottish bylaws) qualified plumber but couldn't say anything regarding a service change that is obviously quite a large piece of work, without being on site and seeing it.

That being said the change in pipe size shouldn't have any impact to the service nor should the fittings and they will no doubt be industry standard and WRAS approved materials. If the resource doing the work is qualified and accredited then they will follow the water undertaker's prescribed rules, if they aren't then the water undertaker has to see it and sign it off before being buried, either way that is the end users guarantee and the authority that signs off the work off are ultimately responsible for fixing it should anything go wrong, so your friend shouldn't be worried, if he is then he needs to talk to the people involved to obtain a written guarantee.

 

[Newboy]

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[russellsmiler]

Thanks for the decent array of replies regarding this. We had the meeting and I surveyed the level of the service pipe in each chamber, either side of what will be the new trunk road. Not sure if I made it clear at the outset as to what as been done here, just to hopefully clarify, A friend who owns land to which a new bypass is being built cutting his farm in two. the severn trent main which he as a service supply from is approx. 500metres from the house , thus his external stop tap is a long way from home, the service pipe had become a contentious issue with him and the bypass builders, (welsh assembly) they have broken it and repaired it three times whilst generally doing excavations (so his back was up). This water service as to cross the new road at right angles and so they the contractors have installed 2 100mm ducts under the new road, severed and re-connected his service so it is now in the duct, have installed a secondary future proof service between 2 inspection chambers each side of road, so all appears well. my friends concerns were that the duct was installed less than 600mm below the surface, this is were I was getting involved as he had no idea how this could be determined now the road was in place, (it still is only hypothetical, but all seems to calculate in favour of it being circa 900mm deep) but he now as a 500mm service pipe with approx. 8 joints where before there was none. Is to be happy with this?? I would say he as a net loss to his water service now that they have installed these repair joints, and contrary to what we both expected, the service under the new bypass is HIS responsibility, in so much as if it burst in 6 yrs time and caused any subsidence to this road it would be for him to suffer the cost of repairs.
again thanks for previous comments,