42” diameter pipe was pulled under the Ventura Harbor.
by Patricia Schallert
On November 4th, the 42” diameter 1,450 foot long black pipe that was stretched down Anchors Way was pulled under the Ventura Harbor from Anchors Way to Marina Park. The 42” casing pipe below the Harbor, and the 20” outfall pipe below the ocean, are being constructed by Horizontal Directional drilling (HDD). With the 42” casing pipe now pulled in, the HDD work below the Harbor is completed.
The next step is to insert 4 smaller pipes (called product pipes) inside of the 42” casing pipe. The smaller pipes include the 20” outfall pipe, 2 new 10” sewer force main pipes to replace the existing aging Pierpont Lift Station, and a new recycled water line to irrigate Marina Park.
The contractor’s plan is to assemble these pipes in Marina Park and pull them back to the Anchors Way side of the project. Originally those pipes were going to be stretched along Anchors Way just like the 42” pipe, but the contractor has found a way to perform the work from inside the soundwall at Marina Park to reduce the impact on Anchors Way. This work will be completed in the coming weeks.
The HDD work under the seafloor is still on-going. The initial pilot bore hole has reached more than 4,000 feet offshore and the tip has “poked” out on the seafloor in about 55 feet deep water. This occurred on Nov 8th. The work appears to be progressing as planned and the next step is to connect the pilot bore head to the barge which can be seen from the shoreline in Ventura. There will be drilling equipment on the barge to assist with the upcoming work to enlarge the bore hole by a reaming process.
The onshore segment of the work is expected to start soon as well. That work will be along Anchors Way to Schooner, then on Schooner Dr., and finally along Harbor Blvd to south of Spinnaker Dr. When all the work is completed the 20” outfall pipe will be connected from the City’s Water Reclamation Facility south of the Harbor to the end of the outfall pipe more than a mile offshore.
