Madera County in California’s central valley had a problem faced by hundreds of municipalities across the country: aging, deteriorated culverts on the verge of failure.
Considering his best options, Madera Road Commissioner Bradley Phillips turned to Snap-Tite, and his own crew, to begin the task of rehabbing several culverts around the county. Beginning with one rusted pipe under a local rural county road, Phillips took the opportunity to train his own crew on culvert rehab—and project independence—using the Snap-Tite culvert lining system.
Installers like the Madera County Road Department have found the system to be easier, safer and faster. Pre-cut sections of machined pipe (6 in. to 63 in. OD) are delivered to the worksite, then ‘snapped’ together one by one and pushed through the length of the existing deteriorated pipe. After grouting in place, the characteristics of the HDPE pipe deliver a better flow, a watertight seal at all joints and an extended culvert lifespan.
The decision to use Snap-Tite rather than ‘dig and replace’ was driven by the depth of fill over the culvert, a lack of reasonable traffic re-routing options and Phillips’ desire to develop this slip-lining process as a standard tool for addressing failing culverts throughout the county. Snap-Tite representative Steve Fisher conducted training for the Madera County crew, instructing them on assessment of the existing structures, the actual slip-lining process, headwall construction, grout-tube design and placement, grout formulation and the grouting process.
Sliplining proved to be the ideal solution—delivering a complete rehab of the structure(s) without traffic disruption or delays. And with the hands-on training received, Phillips’ crew now had the ability to self-install Snap-Tite on future projects, saving time, budget and the need to outsource.
More information about Snap-Tite is available by calling 1-800-CULVERT, or www.culvert-rehab.com.
