International Paper contracted with a heavy civil contractor to dig and replace a 36” DIP that ran from a 200+ acre lagoon, through a levee, ultimately discharging through an outfall to the Alabama River. The entire pipe run was roughly 300 LF with the portion of pipe going through the levee equaling 112 LF of the total run. Once the dig began on the portion of the pipe inside the levee, both the contractor and IP became concerned that they might lose the entire levee if the dig continued. The lagoon was on an emergency shut down that was costing the plant a significant amount of money per day and the work had to be completed in 7 days. At this point, GCU was contracted on a Thursday to explore any trenchless rehab alternatives that may be possible.

The decision was made to rehabilitate the 112 LF section inside the levee with a lining system. The first challenge was procuring material for this project since the turn-around time for these liners are typically 3-4 weeks as they have to be custom manufactured for each installation. GCU just happened to have ordered a liner for another project that would meet the specifications for the IP segment, and since GCU has its own wet out facility, the liner was able to be built in a matter of hours. The second challenge was coordinating with the dig contractor and IP to get GCU personnel the training and site-specific credentials to access the IP facility in such a short time window. GCU was able to arrive on site the following Monday. Once on site, another hurdle was having multiple contractors and pieces of equipment working on top of each other in the same job site, which was a small piece of land between the levee and river. This required tremendous coordination with both IP and the GC. GCU was able to complete the scope and demobilize on Wednesday of that week – less than 7 days from the initial phone call and without prolonging the shutdown.  Design.  Build.  Deliver.