Some of the Victoria’s oldest pipes are getting a makeover that will extend their underground life for generations.
Beneath the streets and sidewalks of Victoria lay roughly 10 kilometres of brick storm drains, installed by hand an estimated 110 years ago. But these drains aren’t just a part of Victoria’s history. They’re still very much in use, serving the City by directing storm water to the ocean.
Despite the detailed craftsmanship used to build these underground pipes more than a century ago, it was time for an upgrade.
The City is strengthening and revitalizing sections of this historic underground system. Using two trenchless rehabilitation methods, slip-lining and cured-in-place pipe, we are not only building on the foundation of the old pipes but are avoiding costly and invasive excavation processes.
Sections of the century-old storm drain are being slip-lined with a fibreglass material that stabilizes the original pipe and prevents deterioration, - without affecting capacity. You may have seen these crews working away on sections of Cook Street, Oxford Street or Joseph Street.
A section of the pipe under Cook Street is being reinforced using cured-in-place pipe – a liner that fits closely to the host pipe to prevent leakage and the loss of surrounding soil support.
The upgrades will soon be complete and our storm drains will continue to function as they always have.
There’s more to Victoria’s historical infrastructure than meets the eye. Beneath your feet, there’s century-old, reinforced craftsmanship keeping Victoria’s storm water flowing from point A to point B.