Highway to the Cadiz Zone: Maverick Approach to Repairing 80-Year-Old Interceptor under IH-35 in Dallas

A leaking 80-year-old 60-in. diameter wastewater force main under the embankment of IH-35 near downtown Dallas presented a difficult challenge. With wastewater service and the freeway both in jeopardy, DWU collaborated with the engineer and contractor to devise an innovative in situ repair methodology. The team performed a forensic analysis that pointed to an original installation transition point near the suspected leak location. Running out of options and needing an internal rehabilitation construction option that could avoid surface impacts and excavation, the team investigated a carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) construction repair solution. CFRP offered an internal rehabilitation method unconstrained by pipe geometry or surface constraints and formed a pipe that is now capable of handling higher surface loads than its original design capacity. The collaborative approach between DWU, the engineer, and the contractor yielded a fast-track solution to a problem that had lingered for years but was completed in mere months.