Utah Nears Completion of 17-Year, 49-Mile Spanish Fork–Santaquin Pipeline

“Completion of the SFSP is a important milestone in constructing the spine that allows the quickly rising communities within the south finish of Utah County to start taking water allocations petitioned for many years in the past,” says Brad Perkins, undertaking supervisor for the Central Utah Venture. 

With the SFSP almost full, the Utah Lake System (ULS) now delivers Strawberry Reservoir water in a steady pipeline alongside a 35-mile stretch from Orem to Santaquin. In Orem, the ULS connects with different pipelines to ship water as far north as Salt Lake Metropolis. 

The Santaquin Attain is highlighted by huge 60-in.-dia spiral-weld metal pipes, designed to deal with the excessive pressures required for regional water distribution. Every pipe section is 40 ft lengthy and weighs between 25,000 and 30,000 lb. Putting in them has required greater than 500 particular person “picks” to finish the 4.3-mile attain.

To guard the pipe throughout set up, VanCon used two giant excavators and 6- to-8-in.-wide nylon straps to make sure the concrete-over-tape coating remained intact.

The pipeline was put in at a mean depth of 11 ft to fifteen ft, with some areas exceeding 20 ft. “The soil situations various from silty sands, sands with gravels, to gravels,” says Chad Hunsaker, vp of VanCon. He says crews put in greater than 50,000 cu yd of managed low-strength materials across the pipe to make sure 100% compaction and to guard the pipeline.

“The pipe was put in utilizing a slide rail shoring system for the 25,000 linear toes,” says Hunsaker. “One of these shoring system is advanced and requires a big crew to put in and take away shoring and supply a protected work space for the manpower putting in, welding and backfilling the pipeline.”

Precision Welding and Safety

Whereas many large-scale water tasks depend on gaskets, the SFSP makes use of bell-and-spigot joints with double lap welds. This meant 90,000 linear ft of welding, dealt with by a group usually consisting of 1 welder contained in the pipe and two on the outside.

The pipeline contained cylinders of two totally different thicknesses: 1/2-in. and 5/8 in. The 1/2-in. cylinders required 4 passes inside and out of doors of every joint, and the 5/8 in. required 5, says Hunsaker, noting that high quality management was important, as each joint underwent visible inspection, air stress testing, and ultrasonic testing performed by QTI inspectors who remained on web site full-time throughout set up.

To assist defend the pipe in Utah’s rugged, rocky terrain, the metal was primed and wrapped in a system of dielectric tape and a number of other layers of polyethylene tape for corrosion prevention and mechanical safety. For additional safeguards, a 1-in.-thick strengthened cement mortar overcoat is utilized over the taping system. 

“As soon as put in, the pipe receives extra safety with managed low-strength materials trench backfill,” says Ryan Phillips, undertaking supervisor for Jacobs, the job’s design engineer. “Internally, the metal pipe barrel is centrifugally lined with a cement mortar coating.” The pipe joints are grouted after being welded within the area for a steady and easy end lining. To supply cathodic safety, passive anodes have been put in at common intervals alongside the pipeline. 

The ‘Golden Spike’ Connection

Laying miles of pipe was difficult, however essentially the most troublesome second was the bodily “tie-in”—the purpose the place the brand new 4.3-mile part lastly met the 45 miles of pipe already within the floor. The problem was that each pipes have been capped off and stuffed with tens of millions of gallons of water. Earlier than the crew may be part of them collectively, they needed to drain the system and reduce off the heavy metal end-caps to reveal the open pipe.

As a result of this required taking the water system offline, the group spent three months planning for the precise proper time proper after the 2025 irrigation season ended.

“As soon as the irrigation season was accomplished, the prevailing pipeline was drained and the brand new pipeline was briefly related with a smaller pipe between the 2 to empty the brand new pipeline into the prevailing pipeline in order that the dished heads [the steel end-caps] might be eliminated,” says Hunsaker. 

With the strains drained and the ends uncovered, the group joined these two huge ends by utilizing a “butt strap” connection ring—a 2-ft-wide metal collar that overlaps each the prevailing and the brand new pipe. This ring was then welded each inside and outside, creating 4 separate weld areas inside a 2-ft space to make sure the joint may deal with the huge system stress. Phillips says that whereas the double-welded butt strap permits for a tiny little bit of flexibility, the tolerance for the tie-in was inside inches. 

Crossing the End Line

The undertaking is at present in remaining commissioning, with crews ending the 9 turnout vaults that have been constructed alongside your entire stretch of the SFSP, and electrical and IT groups are presently integrating isolation and plunger valves into the SCADA community. Perkins says all work is scheduled to finish June 30, with common water deliveries starting subsequent spring.