Standards for 12" Water Main Parallel to Building

[Jaeger1]

A contractor is proposing to build a new warehouse approx. 5' from an existing 12" water main. having a hard time finding any standards or requirements to legally stop him from building the structure. I know this is just bad engineering to build so close to a 12" water main, however need some support. Thanks

 

[cr1973]

I assume this building is on slab and has no basement? Is the water main in public ROW or located on private property in an easement?

 

[Jaeger1]

The building is on slab on grade and the water main is in an easement on private property, however the water main will be owned by the utility not the owner of the building. So if the 12" water main breaks and causes harm to the building structure would it be the Utilities problem even though they are requesting that the building be placed farther away from the water main or relocating the water main.

 

[cvg]

it will be the owner of the watermain responsibility to repair the damage or move his watermain if desired, however standard practice would be to keep the building further away or to design the building foundation such that there is no impact to the watermain. Alternatively, maybe the watermain could be protected by encasement or put in a sleeve. Note that it could also be considered bad judgement by the water company to assume that a 5' wide easement would be sufficient to allow maintenance / protection of the watermain when property owner decided to build right next to it.

 

[Jaeger1]

Thanks, The water main had a 10' easement approx. 5' on each side of the main. The main has been in place since approx. 1970 the previous building that sat on the property had about a 40,000 square foot foot print and that was demolished and now they are proposing a 97,000 square foot building. The utility is requesting that the developer stay approx. 20' away from the water line or relocate the water line, however they need some technical support or standard which has been difficult to find.

 

[bpattengale]

Depending on how deep the watermain is buried you could argue that it will fall within the zone of influence of the slab foundation. Based on that you could say that the new building will cause increased consolidation or settlement of the soil and cause damage to the main.

Also look into health department regulation. I know they have minimum separation rules for sewers and water mains there may be one for building separations.

 

[RWF7437]

Please ! Before attempting to apply any of the suggested "solutions" GO READ THE EASEMENT. What does it say ? What does it permit ? What does it prohibit ? If the easement is not a written instrument, but only a line on a tract map, find out how Courts have interpreted such easements in similar cases. Yes you may have to hire a lawyer, if you don't already have one.

Don't hire me. Not a lawyer. Don't want to be. But this is more of a legal question than "just bad engineering". Also consider what the owner of the water main can reasonably be expected to do to protect their main.

good luck

 

[BigInch]

I would not normally expect any problem whatsoever to occur from building 5 feet away from the water main, including any typical "zone of influence" effects, once construction is complete. The water main should be very well marked and barricaded during construction of the building. I do think a 10 ft ROW is not a sufficient width for future access by heavy equipment, however it should only be considered an installation and repair clearance impediment that may make future work troublesome, but not impossible by any means.

BigInch-born in the trenches.

http://virtualpipeline.spaces.msn.com

 

[cr1973]

10' wide easement is pretty laughable, we require a 20' wide (10' each side), in our municipality.

Depending on the soil conditions, a broken 12" main could easily "influence" a building only 5 feet away.

 

[niibii]

A 10' easement is on a lower side. We require a 20' wide in ours as well. Standards and requirements at this stage is good but to have a better grip on the problem at stake you might want to take a second look at your easement documents and consider acquiring some more of it.

You might need more than a 10' easement in an area like this should a major break occur.