Future-proofing water supply with a major watermain upgrade under the

Published on 29 September 2021

Future-proofing watermain networks for eastern Quirindi will begin on Monday, 27 September with the temporary closure of the Pryor street carpark.

LPSC Mayor, Cr Doug Hawkins said temporary site fencing is expected to be placed in the proposed work area with pipes to be delivered and excavation beginning by week’s end.

“This will be an upgrade of an existing watermain, which is buried under the rail-line and will be replaced with an almost ‘bulletproof’ water supply to those who live on that side of the tracks,” he said.

LPSC Water Services Engineer, Luke Whitten said the excavation of an under-line rail pipeline is part of re-shaping the trunk network across the town and in particular, to those who live east of the tracks.

“The rail corridor is a high-risk area with high numbers of heavy train movements, so we can’t afford to have a break in the watermain, as it is an expensive process,” Mr Whitten said.

“Quirindi has quite a few rail crossings in its water supply network and we are looking to progressively improve the robustness of these crossings to provide a more reliable system.

Mr Whitten said the under boring plant operator would work from the eastern side of the line, but a pit will be dug on the western side to enable spoil to be easily trucked off site.

“We will put a security fence around that end of the car park, we estimate it will be in place for about four weeks.

“This new watermain will be 150mm in diameter which gives a chance to improve the network as the Henry Street crossing is only 100mm.

“It will also mean the east side of town will become less reliant on the Henry Street watermain,” Mr Whitten said.

He said the upgrade was part of the asset management plan and fitted within the community strategic plan for Council’s water supply network.

Council expects the southern end of the Pryor Street car park to be reopened to the public in the last week of October.