Water mains replacement works on Harris Street complete!

A new pipeline along Harris and Borilla streets has improved the reliability of Emerald’s town water supply.

Starting in January 2024, the construction project involved the replacement of an existing water main that had suffered serious failures in the past and required significant upgrades.

‘In early 2022, there was a major pipe failure along Harris Street, which resulted in half of the town’s water supply being unresponsive for around 5 to 6 hours,’ said General Manager Infrastructure and Utilities Jason Hoolihan.

‘Emergency works identified that the pipeline’s condition had deteriorated, so the whole section needed to be replaced.’

After a thorough tender process for the full replacement of the infrastructure, AECOM Australia was awarded the detailed design and Roebuck Civil were awarded the construction scope. The construction works began in January 2024 and were completed last month. They involved locating above and underground services, trenching and laying of pipes, pipeline interconnecting shutdowns, traffic management, pipeline flushing and chlorination as well as the laying of new asphalt.

‘A steady water supply is so important to our daily lives, so we’re glad we could get this project completed,’ Mr Hoolihan said.

He thanked the Emerald community for their patience and cooperation during the works undertaken.