Working Non-destructively at “the arb”
During February 2022, the Pipetek Infrastructure Services Crew worked to complete sewer line inspections near The Arb on the University of Michigan’s Ann Arbor campus — a challenging environment for our team to perform their work while simultaneously avoiding protected natural areas within the landscape.
Nichols Arboretum, locally known as The Arb, is an arboretum operated by the University of Michigan — located on the eastern edge of its Central Campus in Ann Arbor, MI.
Due to the sensitivity of the natural area, the City of Ann Arbor created an interim road for our Pipetek Crew to use and avoid damaging any of the protected landscape while working in and around the arboretum.
Our Pipetek Crew worked to clear roots within the lines to allow for camera access. By jetting the line in reverse to release blockage, we were able to clear significant heavy roots allowing the equipment to pass through the line as required. .
Our team marked each line using a spinning nozzle at high pressure, then measured via a rodder hose to mark each location. Once we were able to get the camera completely through the pipe, our team setup a cutter at the downstream manhole and cut up towards the hill. Due to some broken/fractured pipe just upstream of the downstream manhole, we decided to go with a root saw blade to further clear the line.
With the fractured area, we felt that the knocker setup would pass over with no issues, but presented the possibility of the skid becoming wedged on the joint as it returned — potentially pulling up pieces of pipe in the process. Fortunately, we were able to get the root saw blade to pass all the way through the blocked area of the line. While our team was able to perform the required tasks, two or three small hardened deposits along the bottom of the pipe remained — unaffected by our applied methods.
We additionally encountered a service connection completely plugged with roots. On account of the blockage, our team was unable to determine if this connection was active or not. Some of the hardened deposits along the bottom were difficult to visually identify with constant water rushing over them. Finally, we identified a few offset joints that were larger than the deposits along the bottom.
Thank you to Steve and our Pipetek Infrastructure Services Crew members involved in this difficult project — we appreciate your efforts and care for The Arb’s natural environment.
To learn more about the Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum at the University of Michigan, please visit their website at: https://mbgna.umich.edu/nichols-arboretum/