Innovative method used to replace aging pipes beneath Baish Park

By ROB LARSON
Daily Press Staff Writer
By using an innovative process called pipe bursting, it took Albuquerque Underground Inc. only about one day to physically replace 247.6 feet of old pipe buried 12 feet below Baish Park.
According to Tina Torres, Artesia’s Director of Community Development, Albuquerque Underground Inc. first came to Baish Park and snaked a small camera through the old pipe to determine where each lateral was in the plumbing system. … For the rest of the story, subscribe in print and on the web.
Once the system of pipe was thoroughly mapped out, workers were sent in to replace the 60-year-old clay pipe with new HDTE pipe that will last approximately 100 years and is two inches wider.
They started by attaching a steel nosecone to one end of the new pipe. On the same side of the nosecone, pneumatic metal rods were put in place and connected to an air compressor. A long, steel cable was hooked onto the front of the nosecone, which ran through the old pipe and was attached to a winch.