Utilizing trenchless technology for design of utilities in Baytown

Baytown, Texas is a highly industrialized city of oil refinery, rubber, and chemical industries located on Galveston Bay, approximately 30 miles east of Houston. Baytown population grew from about 20,958 in 1948 to about 66,430 in 2000, and its continued growth requires planning of city services including sewer service. In order to promote continued growth in the N. Main Street and Baker Road area, the City is planning to extend Baker Road, eastward from N. Main Street and provide sewer service to current and new businesses and neighborhoods in the area. The sewer project included 15-inch gravity sewers along N. Main Street, a duplex lift station, and a 6-inch force main crossing a flood control channel. N. Main Street is a five-lane roadway, constructed of reinforced concrete. As the street runs through the heart of Baytown, it experiences a steady flow of heavy traffic. It would be difficult and costly to close portions of the roadway for the construction of the proposed gravity sanitary sewer. The numerous utilities within the Right-of-Way also posed challenges for the installation of a new sewer system. Within the N. Main Right-of-Way, there are existing pressure force main, gas lines, water lines, over head power lines, and various other utilities. During design phase, it was determined that the most efficient and cost effective way to address these issues was to install the sewer system by open cut where feasible, and use the combination of augering and horizontal directional drilling to avoid existing utilities and minimize impacts on above ground features. This paper will present the challenges, planning and coordination efforts required to construction the sewer system describe the importance and benefits of trenchless technologies to Engineers during design and construction phases of infrastructure projects.