Ross Valley Sanitary District completes pipeline rehabilitation project

San Rafael, Calif. — Ross Valley Sanitary District (RVSD) announced the completion of rehabilitation and capacity improvements on more than five miles of gravity sewer pipeline in the town of San Anselmo and the unincorporated area of Kentfield. These improvements will provide enhanced reliability and uninterrupted service, and are the first to be completed under Ross Valley’s Infrastructure Assets Management Plan (IAMP).

“As one of five community members elected to oversee the District, I am pleased with the way RVSD is prioritizing and completing repairs to the aging Ross Valley sewer system,” said Board President Mary Sylla. “RVSD is using the latest technology to methodically assess and rehabilitate the parts of the system most likely to result in spills to waterways.

“We’ve also been able to work with customers to replace aging privately owned laterals while the concrete was torn up, saving costs all around,” Sylla said. “Thanks to our customers for their patience with the construction, and to our local government partners at San Anselmo and Marin County public works.”

The $5.4 million project used a range of construction methods depending on local street conditions. These included open-cut removal and replacement of the pipes and trenchless replacement using pipe bursting and cured-in-place-pipe (CIPP).  As part of the project, more than 2,500 feet of private sewer laterals within the construction areas were replaced.

The project is the first completed entirely under RVSD’s 2013 Infrastructure Assets Management Plan, approved by the California Regional Water Quality Control Board in 2013.  The IAMP uses risk modeling, combined with level of service criteria, to identify and prioritize the District’s capital projects over a 10-year planning horizon.

“The completion of this project demonstrates the value of asset management in meeting the challenges of aging public infrastructure,” said Greg Norby, P.E., General Manager of RVSD.  “The Board, our customers, and state regulatory staff can have confidence the capital program is identifying and prioritizing projects in an objective, consistent manner.”

“By methodically assessing the system, rather than approaching each repair as an emergency, we are providing clear, risk-based asset management prioritization focused on the most urgent repairs and improvements,” continued Norby.  “This approach helped to reduce the impact to our system during the recent storm events.”

The official Notice of Completion for this project was filed and approved at the January 25, 2017 RVSD board meeting, with the initial board approval for the project provided on March 18, 2015.  The project delivery team included Maggiora & Ghilotti, Inc. (construction), Vali Cooper & Associates, Inc. (construction management), and Harris and Associates (engineering design).