Efficiency Production, Inc.

DiPaolo Construction, of Calumet City, IL, recently completed a $14 million underground utility project to install personnel access manhole structures over an existing combined storm/sanitary sewer line in the South Chicago community of Hegewisch.

Theodore Roosevelt aptly said, “When you are asked if you can do a job, tell 'em, 'Certainly I can!' Then get busy and find out how to do it.” This is certainly the philosophy taken by contractor Tri-City Groundbreakers when they were low bidder on a deep excavation project that was larger and deeper than anything that they had attempted before.

Sault Ste. Marie, MI, like so many other communities, is in the midst of storm-sewer separation upgrades. For many cities, that can mean miles of new pipe or upgraded utilities. Sault Ste. Marie has a unique challenge in that its historic downtown area is essentially an island, with the famous Soo Locks closely adjacent to the excavation area.

For excavation projects requiring manned entry, shielding and shoring trench walls is a major cost. Material and labor prices escalate as excavations cover more area and become deeper. On many large projects -- especially long runs of large-diameter pipe installation -- slide rail systems have become the preferred method of preventing the collapse of trench walls.