Frontera, a Route Study Ballad—Out in the West Texas Town of El Paso

When El Paso Water’s Frontera 3.6 mi-long dual steel force main began to fail in 2020, an emergency project was initiated to replace the pipes. Phase 1 improvements included 1.3 mi of new fiberglass reinforced polymer (FRP) pipe installed essentially parallel with the old pipes. This minimized the need to acquire new easements and provided flexibility for connecting back to the existing force mains to minimize costs. To replace the remaining 2.4 mi of aging pipes entirely to the Hickerson Water Reclamation Facility (WRF), Jacobs and EPWater completed further route analysis. Replacing within the same easement presented a number of conflicts, while replacing parallel to or in place of the existing pipe was also not a preferable solution due to the high cost of bypass pumping to the WRF. This presentation will demonstrate how the project team utilized “Route Scout,” a route analysis tool to remove bias and develop a preferred route considering site restrictions and stakeholder priorities. We will delve into the restrictions faced in west El Paso, including the political issue of state borders, avoiding newly constructed TxDOT facilities, groundwater, contaminated soils, congested streets, and working with private landowners to acquire new easements. As field investigations began as part of the design process, new information emerged on restrictions along the preferred route. As this new information came to light, the tool was used as a live component of the project and alternative segments became the preferred route. Between El Paso Water, its customers, TxDOT, and local business on the existing and along potential routes, there were many stakeholders and their competing interests to consider on this project. The route study looked to understand these interests, minimize impact, and consider all interests to the project. By using Route Scout, these stakeholders and the site limitations could be quantified and compared to the costs estimated for the trenched, rehabilitated, and tunneled installation options to find the preferred route which is being built today.