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VALVE CHAMBERS INNOVATION THROUGH DESIGN


COLLABORATION

Anthony Parente, P.Eng. Manager, Capital Works, Water Transmission and
Distribution, Region of Peel

Norm Sandberg, CET, Senior Environmental Technologist, Ainley Group

Benoit Tanguay, ing, P.Eng. Director, Engineering, Munro Ltd.

INTRODUCTION

Valve chambers for potable water distribution systems are typically designed by
the consulting engineer and specified as cast-in-place (CIP) or as a standard
precast chamber. The current standard precast chamber design as specified in
the Ontario Provincial Standard Drawings (OPSD) is adequate but does present
some challenges, especially in terms of watertightness. Many installed valve
chambers are subject to flooding by groundwater entering through leaking joints
and pipe connections. As such, the operation of expensive mechanical (valves)
and electrical equipment can be compromised. Furthermore, maintenance of
water distribution systems by municipal Operations Groups requires safe entry
into these chambers. As confined spaces, standing water in these structures
presents an additional potential hazard for Operations Staff. The long-term
viability of the water distribution system is linked to the proper functioning of
these valve chambers.

BACKGROUND

Peel Region is a 1,254 km
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area comprising the Cities of Mississauga, Brampton
and the Town of Caledon. With a population of 1.3 million people (Statistics
Canada, 2011) it is Ontarios second largest municipality, second only to the City
of Toronto. Its population has grown from just under 800,000 people in 1991.
Between 2006 and 2011, the City of Brampton, the fastest growing area, grew by
20.8%. As the population continues to grow, so does the need for water
infrastructure to service that growth. The Region of Peel currently operates two
surface water treatment facilities, nine groundwater supply facilities, and
associated storage facilities and distribution systems. In order to meet continuing
population growth, and to service the supply contract with the Region of York,
the Region of Peel is currently engaged in one of the largest and most extensive
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watermain initiatives any municipality has ever undertaken with the Hanlan
Water Project.

Prior to 1998, waterworks for Peel Region was owned and operated by the
Ontario Ministry of the Environment (MOE). Upon assumption of the system
from the MOE, the Region quickly developed a long term capital plan for
expansion and rehabilitation of the water treatment and transmission system. The
Regions standards were developed mainly for distribution watermains. Through
the development of a Capital Works group, the Region was able to develop
interim standards. Existing standards did not take into consideration transmission
watermains or watermains larger than 600mm in diameter. The Region of Peels
Capital Works group, in conjunction with consultants retained for large
transmission networks, and in cooperation and consultation with Operations
groups and the Ontario Clean Water Agency worked to develop interim standards
for use on Capital projects. Staff applied lessons learned and industry best
management practices to ongoing projects. However, as staff and their Operators
invested significant time in the existing and newly acquired transmission
networks, it became clear to the Region that the development of a made in Peel
solution for standards was required. In addition, the Regions vision of a long
term condition assessment/asset management process for their transmission
network required the inclusion of the latest industry best practices.

In 2010, the Region of Peel embarked on a review and update of its Capital
Works, Water, Standard Drawings. The Capital Works Group (as the designer of
water systems) undertook this through a collaborative approach with the Peel
Water Operations Group to ensure that new capital works projects would be
designed with long-term ease of operational and maintenance considerations in
mind. The Region retained the services of the Ainley Group, Consulting
Engineers and Planners, to assist with the review and update of its Capital Works,
Water, Standard Drawings to ensure that the Regions long-term objectives were
realised.

THE CHALLENGE
Through the course of the review, input from the Operations group resulted in
many revisions but one area that required considerable examination and input was
the challenge with precast valve chambers. Although cost effective, precast
chambers were known to leak. In addition, precast risers and adjustment rings
were constantly damaged by traffic. Access to buried infrastructure for
assessment and/or replacement often required sectional removal of the structure.
The Region had found that more often than not, valve chambers were flooded
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with groundwater and/or infiltrated by stormwater through castings or adjustment
rings. To minimise health and safety challenges for chamber entry, and to
facilitate inspection or maintenance of a valve chamber, the chamber had to be
pumped out to eliminate the water. In some cases, special measures had to be
taken to keep the water out while the chamber was being serviced.

Figure 1: Water gushing into a precast valve chamber

The problem is groundwater infiltration. Many areas in Ontario have elevated
groundwater conditions. In order to understand why this is happening, the OPSD
drawing for precast valve chambers (OPSD 1101.010) gives some information.
Many of the Peel Standard Drawings referred to the OPSDs. It is likely that the
precast industry of the day was consulted as to what it could provide in precast
structures and this design was settled upon as a sufficient minimum standard that
all precasters could produce. But that was more than ten years ago and there has
not been a significant change since then.
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Another challenge is that chamber sizes were kept to a minimum, often making it
challenging for Operations staff to enter for the maintenance or replacement of
valves.


Figure 2: Schematic of OPSD Type Valve Chamber

Figure 2 shows the potential areas for infiltration. Wherever there is a joint, there
is potential infiltration. The existence of a joint and more so the way jointing is
done creates a possibility for infiltration. The typical precast valve chamber is
constructed from a base slab with risers placed on top to the finished elevation.
The entry point for the pipe is an opening roughed out during the pre-casting
process. When the bottom riser is placed on top of the base, it gives the
appearance of a doghouse opening and is generally referred to as such.
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Figure 3: Doghouse opening in OPSD Type Precast Valve Chamber

Typically, the valve chamber construction process on site is as follows:
1. The base slab is placed and levelled.
2. The base extension for anti-floatation is cast-in-place.
3. The mechanical componentry is installed on the base slab. The bottom
riser is installed over the base slab.
4. The gasketed joint between the base slab and the bottom riser is grouted.
5. The rebar of the doghouse opening is cut to make way for the pipe.
6. The pipe is brought into the valve chamber. There is plenty of play and
room for adjustment around the pipe.
7. The pipe is pushed up to the upper round section and held in place by
bricks or blocks. The joint is grouted top and bottom.
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8. The risers are placed on top of the bottom riser to reach the surface. A flat
cap with a maintenance hole frame/lid is placed at the top.
Possible areas of infiltration are the joint between the base slab and the bottom
riser, the riser-to-riser connection, and most certainly the pipe to chamber
connection through the doghouse opening. With the doghouse opening, while the
placement of pipe is relatively easy, it is virtually impossible to achieve a good
long-term pipe-to-chamber seal. In addition, infiltration can also occur between
the adjustment units below the access frame and cover.

PRIMARY GOAL MAKE THE VALVE CHAMBER WATERTIGHT
The Region of Peel and the Ainley Group knew that the challenges of infiltration
control and optimum conditions for Operations staff to service valve chambers
could not be addressed through minor revisions to the Regions standard
drawings. Similarly, more detailed instructions for installation or greater on-site
field inspection would not solve the fundamental challenge of mitigating
infiltration in the long term. They had some ideas about design changes but
wanted to be sure that manufacturers could reasonably accommodate them. On
behalf of the Region, the Ainley Group contacted Munro Ltd., an infrastructure
manufacturing company that has a product engineering design team and that
manufactures concrete pressure pipe (CPP) and precast valve chambers.
Furthermore, Munro Ltd. was selected because the company is a member of the
Ontario Concrete Pipe Association (OCPA) and participates in the OCPAs
Technical Committee. This meant that when the product solution was determined,
it could be disseminated to and manufactured by all Ontario manufacturers. This
would continue to ensure a fair and competitive bidding environment.
The three parties met to discuss the challenges and to share input and experiences.
They all had the same goal to have an improved, constructible valve chamber
that would remain watertight and ensure long-term serviceability. Any good
design involves collaboration. There was a lot of back and forth discussion prior
to settling on the final design. Everyone wanted a higher level of quality control
on the chamber to pipe openings and the jointing system. The goal was to have a
more foolproof system that minimized variation in field constructability.
In addition, the parties wanted to ensure that the ultimate construction authority,
the General Contractor would be able to construct the modified design without
significant problems. It was expected that the absence of the traditional dog
house would cause significant constructability concerns and the Region wanted
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to ensure that its Contractors could (and would) construct the chambers in
accordance with a new standard.

NEW VALVE CHAMBER DESIGN

Figure 4: Schematic of the New Valve Chamber Design.

The new valve chamber design includes a true monobase and a true monotop.
This terminology refers to the fact that the base and the walls are a continuous
concrete pour and the top and walls are a continuous concrete pour when precast.
There is no joint between the base and walls or the top and the walls. Two joints
(and the potential infiltration) have been eliminated. In addition, the monobase
design incorporates a base extension for anti-floatation which is also part of the
continuous concrete pour when the monobase is precast.
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The previous chamber design called for factory supplied gaskets to be placed by
Contractor. Challenges with gasketed joints placed in the field are the potential
for rolled gaskets, difficulty achieving equal pressure around the gasket
(especially in large rectangular chambers) and difficulty of inspection because the
gasket is placed on top of a vertical structure. Instead of a factory supplied rubber
gasket, the joints are wrapped on the outside with a waterproof membrane. From
the inside of the valve chamber, the joints are sealed by injecting the keyway in
the rectangular chamber (or the annular space in the round chamber) with a single
component hydrophobic polyurethane resin using factory set injection tubes.
This is the last step in the process to ensure watertightness of the valve chamber.
The through-wall pipe openings represented the greatest possibility for
improvement and, hence, better quality control to ensure watertightness. Instead
of a dug out doghouse opening, a manufactured cast-in hole, ensuring a smooth
round opening is specified. The hole cast by the manufacturer is fitted with a
conventional boot flexible watertight seal for PVC and ductile iron pipe. The
boot is pipe-diameter specific and allows flexibility for some differences in the
orientation of the pipe entering the valve chamber. The use of a monobase
requires the Contractor to take greater care with pipe alignment. Line and grade
must be carefully planned and coordinated to ensure that the pipeline lines up
with the cast-in hole of the monobase.

Providing a watertight connection for concrete pressure pipe (CPP) was the next
challenge. The surface of concrete pressure pipe is rough due to the exterior
mortar coating. A Link Seal type gasket, specified to make the watertight seal,
requires two smooth surfaces, the first being the manufacturers cast-in hole
through the wall opening and the second being the pipe surface. A smooth
surface on the through-wall portion of CPP is created during the manufacture of
this specific concrete pressure pipe by welding a steel sleeve and waterstop
assembly to the steel cylinder of the CPP. The outer diameter of the steel sleeve
is greater than the outer diameter of the mortar coating and must be designed by
the manufacturer to suit the proper joint sealing system. The Link Seal must be
specified for the proper annular space between the pipe and the cast-in hole of the
chamber.

Other updates were made to the valve chamber standards to allow for ongoing
maintenance:

1. Valve chamber sizes have generally been increased to provide for
adequate workspace for Operations staff, including minimum clearances
from the chamber wall to any valve or fitting.
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2. Tracer wires, which were previously specified to be accessible through the
interior of valve boxes, were often broken during the first operation of the
valve. These have been relocated to the tops of the ladders for convenient
access.
3. Consideration was given to providing greater system operations
flexibility by the addition of valves in many of the chambers.
4. Frost strapping was typically attached to the outside of the chamber and
use of frost strapping was on an as specified basis. In the new
specifications, installation of frost strapping is standard. Frost strapping is
installed on the inside of the chamber so that the strapping can be easily
inspected and adjusted, if necessary.
5. J oint waterproofing redundancy is provided by the application of an
elastomeric membrane on the exterior of the joints, including the
adjustment rings.


Prior to adopting the new Standard Drawing updates, the Region circulated them
in draft form for additional comment from representative Engineering Consultants
and Contractors with a history of working in the Region. Several of the comments
received were incorporated into the final version. The Regions collaborative
approach has led to the standardization of its water chamber design to achieve its
objectives of infiltration control, operation-friendliness and economical
constructability. The result is a valve chamber design dictated by the Regions
long-term needs. It is no longer just a concrete box surrounding equipment.

LESSONS LEARNED

Ainley Group provided Peel Region its finalized drawings in the fall of 2011.
The 65 original Standard Drawings for capital works have increased to 110
drawings. The additional drawings and details give greater clarity about the
Region of Peels expectations from manufacturers and installers of its water
infrastructure. A number of contracts have been tendered referring to the new
Standard Drawings. There has been no noticeable increase in tendered costs.
The Region of Peel has received some feedback from contractors because the use
of the monobase and monotop requires closer attention to line and grade integrity
to be within the allowable tolerance of the manufacturers cast-in holes for the
pipe.

The Region of Peel has updated its Standard Drawings for watermain
infrastructure to help address their continuing requirement for water infrastructure
growth and ongoing maintenance. The Region is now more specific about
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installation requirements. It has addressed inflow and infiltration in valve
chambers. Differential settlement that may have affected the pipe-to-valve
chamber joint in the past is no longer an issue due to the flexible and watertight
jointing system. Operational challenges and certain safety issues have been
addressed. The Region will now have greater flexibility in its planned and
emergency watermain shutdowns.

Finally, the new monobase valve chamber design provides for additional
flexibility and quality control by now making it possible for the valve chamber
manufacturer to assemble the valve chamber complete with mechanical
componentry and valves. This may be of special significance to minimize the
installation time of valve chambers when the closure of traffic lanes are required.

The Regions collaborative approach to the update of its Water Standard
Drawings allowed all involved to understand the challenges, provide input in the
determination of effective solutions and understand the implications of the
solutions. Change always elicits resistance but it also elicits thoughtful reflection.
The Region of Peel expects that these updated Standard Drawings will undergo
some final tweeks resulting from comments from the field as they enter their
first full construction season.

REFERENCES

OPSD 1101.010
Region of Peel Public Works Standard Drawings 1-1-5, 1-1-6, 1-3-4

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