Elmhurst begins work on annual sewer repair project

Crews have started work to clean and inspect sanitary and storm sewers in portions of south Elmhurst between St. Charles and Butterfield roads as part of an annual project to minimize sewer backups and blockages.

Plans call for using a process called Cure in Place Pipe, or CIPP, to rebuild sections of badly deteriorated sewer lines.

Instead of being forced to dig up and replace old sewers, the process allows crews to insert a liner that creates a smooth-surfaced, long-lasting pipe inside the old sewer.

The city hired Hoerr Construction Inc. of Peoria for the project that calls for lining roughly 2.8 miles of sewers this year in areas where tree roots and infiltration of outside water and debris have caused problems.

Superintendent of Utilities Chris Dufort estimates the work will cost roughly $500,000.

Dufort said the city has been using the CIPP system since the 1990s and the linings are "still in place and in good shape."

The process begins with crews using a video camera to inspect the sewer lines and then cleaning them to eliminate debris, including roots mud and waste, to provide a clean surface for the liner.

The CIPP is then inserted into the sewers in a soft form. Once inside, it's pressurized, causing it to expand to fill the pipe. The crews then use steam to cure the liner in place.

Once the pipe has hardened - the curing usually takes one or two hours - crews send the camera back in and cut out the sewer connections to individual homes or businesses.

Dufort says the lining typically runs for about 300 feet, from manhole to manhole, and it takes about a full day to complete the process.

The city will send letters and distribute door hangers to residents and businesses in the affected areas with dates for when the work is scheduled to take place.

The cleaning and inspection process began this week, Dufort said, and probably will last for a couple weeks before crews begin lining to complete the work.

He said Hoerr Construction is an old hand at the process and has installed hundreds of thousands of feet of the lining.

"If everything is prepped properly," he said, "there usually are no issues."