This project was located just south of Dannevirke, involved the replacement of hazardous asbestos cement (AC) pipe with new PVC-U. The asbestos pipe had aged, becoming brittle and burst due to the pressure of the water to run the irrigation lines.
As it is well known, asbestos is an extremely hazardous material when it is damaged or being worked on. The release of lung damaging fibres is the reason for it being listed as a hazardous material. Blackley Construction are trained and fully equipped to deal with this material as it is a product we run into regularly as we replace old water mains for councils around the Manawatu-Wanganui Area.
The pipes are carefully cut using hand tools, with an encapsulation mist being sprayed across the work area to prevent fibres from entering the air. Our staff also wear masks and disposable overalls as a further preventative measure. The pipes are then double bagged and tagged as Asbestos and taken to an approved dumpsite for disposal.
Even though this work is carried out in a remote area, Blackley’s treat the environment with the greatest of care, ensuring there is no ground contamination.
Ductile iron gibaults were fitted and new PVC-U pipe installed.
