Restraints on Water Transmission Main Construction

The restraints on water transmission main construction are physical, economical, and regulatory. These basic restraints may be characterized as inflexible, flexible within limits, or flexible without limits. This paper considers these various restraints, and how engineers have coped with them in constructing water transmission mains, especially in the mountainous regions of Colorado. Regulatory restraints are the latest, and at times, the most difficult for the engineer. These restraints, unlike the physical and economical restraints, do not adjust readily to changing conditions. The engineer must become actively and positively involved in the political scene to assure that regulatory restraints are beneficial to the community as a whole. Long-range planning and design for a water utility, as well as for other utilities, should consider all possible restraints for maximum good to the total living system. The expertise within ASCE and other professional organizations should be made available for passage of needed legislation.