You may be looking at the picture above, wondering why there is a bulldozer suspended from a pipe, and what this could possibly have to do with the golf course. These are great questions, and the answer to all of this began over two weeks ago. You see, it was at that time that we found the ground was slightly wet near the main pump station at #9 tee. Of course, after last year's incessant precipitation, we're still seeing ground water pop up in unusual places, so we didn't panic.
However, as this wet spot persisted, we decided to put a bit of green dye into the pump station discharge line. Lo and behold, the wet area soon had green water rising to the surface--and St. Patty's Day has long passed.
Now that an irrigation problem was confirmed, some exploratory surgery commenced. Soon, a relatively small hole, grew into something quite large and deep. What we found ourselves dealing with was the 12" main outside of the pump station. The pipe comes to a tee fitting about 60' from the station, and this tee needed to be replaced. With the station pumping 1,200 gallons per minute at 115 psi towards this tee, it was designed to never move, and this is where the "fun" really started...
When the irrigation system was originally installed 30 years ago, a large concrete thrust block was poured behind the tee for support. Additionally, a previous repair on this pipe from the pump station had been encased in concrete to prevent any possible pipe movement. Seeing that the concrete had to be removed, we were forced to switch from using a shovel and backhoe, to a jackhammer and demolition hammer.
As soon as we realized the full scope of the problem, it became clear that this was not something which could be handled completely in-house. So we reached out to the team at Killiam Irrigation Contractors to get us back up and running. Over the years, when dealing with any unusual and challenging irrigation repair, these guys have always come through for us.
Scott Killiam assessed the situation, and determined the best course of action for the repair. One thing was certain--our small backhoe wasn't going to get the job done. An excavator was brought in to remove the old concrete, and set the new pipes and fittings in place.
Scott chose to use
Megalug mechanical joint restraints to hold the replacement pipes, tee and couplers in place. How strong are these? Well, this is where the bulldozer picture comes into play. The 50,000 pound dozer is being held up by a Megalug joint restraint attached to a length of PVC pipe.
If you've ever used SharkBite plumbing fittings, then you have an idea how they grip the pipe, and just won't let go. Similarly, the Megalug joint restraints wedge onto the pipe and won't let loose. So yes...they are strong enough!
Had this leak shown itself in late fall, we would have had the luxury to make the repair at any point over the winter. Unfortunately, that was not the case, and we had to deal with it now. The timing of this was less than ideal, as it took us away from other important work on the golf course for several days.
However, while an April repair was certainly not great, if there was any silver lining, it's that this problem didn't happen during a mid-July heat wave. Thanks to the hard work of all involved, we're confident that this will be the last time we ever have to look at this part of the irrigation system.
