2012- The Village of Telkwa has improved community infrastructure by the replacement of the 150 mm diameter water main to a 300 mm diameter main running along Highway 16. This 50 year old main had experienced several failures in recent years and it caused major disruption to a significant amount of residents when it needed repair.
The chosen method for replacing the water main is called pipe bursting, a trenchless technology, pushing a larger pipe into a smaller pipe leaving the old pipe undisturbed in the ground. The benefits of trenchless technology are limited digging, fewer disturbances to the ground, and no need for old pipe disposal, meanwhile minimizing highway structure disturbance or damage. Because you’re not digging up the whole road there is less likelihood of silt runoff to the river, little disturbance to traffic flow and residents along the project area and the cost becomes significantly less.
Replacing this water main on Highway 16 and the looping of lines in the downtown area is an improvement for the community as a whole and a step forward towards carrying capacity to a new reservoir on the east side of town which will allow further subdivision development.
