Underground Construction - October 2021 - 17

Tiny Town Raises Funds, Manages Utility Overhaul
heavy storm fl ow. Curbs, gutters and dozens of stormwater drain
inlets now collect water from the roadway to outfalls draining into
the Catoctin Creek on the south edge of town.
Service lines were primarily trenched. However, because of the
sensitive historic nature of all the homes - many with historic
stone walls in front of them along the roadway - some directional
drilling under walls was required. Th e service line trenching work
required meticulous planning and careful excavation, in light of
the tight constraints imposed by the historical features and the
multiple utilities stacked within the narrow corridor.
Careful consideration
Construction planning and execution had to take into account the
fragile condition of the historical homes and their foundations.
A property-by-property plan was established with close collaboration
led by the town among property owners, utility engineers
(Volkert), and the construction contractor (Archer Western) and
its sub-contractors. Weekly progress meetings were held, often
including the utilities, and daily communication and consultations
were overseen by the town as project owner.
On typical projects, the contractor would utilize larger excavators
to dig deep trenches, but due to the space constraints, small
low-frequency compactors were used to minimize vibration to
protect the home's foundations.
Use of smaller equipment allowed crews to keep aff ected areas
confi ned to a smaller footprint while installing service conduits
to each home. Th is allowed restoration eff orts to be precise and
eliminate any potential damage to historical homes' foundations.
Extra care had to be taken with boring. Instead of directional
boring equipment, the team chose to go with smaller mole/pneumatic
piercing tools to go under walls or newly installed pipes.
An elaborate and exhaustive vibration monitoring regime was
followed, with thousands of pre- and post-project photos and measurements
taken to determine any vibration impacts on structures.
Th e town established its own process for evaluating the project's
unanticipated physical impacts to properties and for their remediation.
Great care was taken in all new construction sensitive to
its immediate context - matching new stone wall construction in
style, color and texture of mortar work to immediately adjacent
existing historic features.
Refl ecting on the project, Mayor Vance said the success of
ReTh ink 9 centered on the trust and cooperation of all parties
concerned in planning and construction. In addition to the Town
of Hillsboro, Volkert, and Archer Western, the team comprised
CES Consulting and numerous subcontractors, many of them from
the area in and around Hillsboro. *
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Volkert, (251) 342-1070, volkert.com
Archer Western, (404)495-8700, walshgroup.com
CES Consulting, (571) 933-8476, ces-consultingllc.com
UCONonline.com | OCTOBER 2021
17
http://www.volkert.com http://www.walshgroup.com http://www.ces-consultingllc.com http://www.tuffrod.com http://www.UCONonline.com
Underground Construction - October 2021

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