Pipe Bursting in Jefferson

Jefferson's housing and what was buried with it

Jefferson has been the county seat since the early 1800s, and the neighborhoods around the courthouse square, along Chestnut Street, Jefferson Street and the side streets off Route 46, were built out largely between the 1870s and the 1920s. The sewer laterals under those homes were installed when vitrified clay in two-foot or three-foot lengths was the only option, and many have never been replaced. Where a house has a basement, there is usually a run of cast iron through the foundation wall and a few feet out before the clay begins.

The village grew modestly after the Second World War, with ranch homes filling in toward the edges along Route 307 and south toward the fairgrounds. Those 1950s and 1960s lots may have clay, Orangeburg or asbestos-cement pipe. Later homes on the outskirts, and anything from the late 1970s on, are usually PVC and give far less trouble.

Clay ground, deep frost and old trees

The soil across Jefferson is glacial till with a high clay content, and the low ground along Mill Creek stays wet much of the year. Clay heaves when it freezes, and in this part of the county the frost line runs three feet or more in a hard winter. A jointed pipe lifted a fraction of an inch at one joint and not at the next ends up with a stair-step profile that holds water and solids.

The older streets are canopied by maple and sycamore, with willow along the creek. Their feeder roots are drawn to the moisture that leaks from every clay joint, and once inside they expand until the pipe is choked. On a camera run the roots look like a curtain of hair across the pipe. Where the line has an open joint, the inspector often sees soil washing in as well, which is the beginning of a void that eventually drops the pipe.

Parts of the old village core were served by combined sewers, so during a heavy storm the main can run full and push water back up any lateral that has lost its grade. Homeowners who get a wet basement only in a downpour are usually seeing a surcharge rather than a plain blockage.

Matching the fix to the camera report

Every job begins with a camera inspection and a locate of the line's depth and path. If the clay is cracked, rooted and leaking but still holds its shape, cured-in-place pipe lining is the usual answer. The line is jetted clean, roots are cut, and an epoxy-saturated felt liner is inverted or pulled into place and cured with hot water, steam or UV light. One continuous pipe replaces dozens of joints.

A collapsed section, a belly deep enough to stand water, or an offset that the camera cannot pass rules lining out. Pipe bursting handles those: two pits, one at the house and one at the main, a bursting head that breaks the clay outward, and fused HDPE pulled in behind it. When only one joint has failed, a sectional point repair with a short liner over that spot is the economical middle path.

Permits and the inspection in the village

The Village of Jefferson issues the sewer connection and repair permit and performs the inspection, and work in the street or sidewalk requires a right-of-way permit from the village as well. Homes outside the corporation line that are on county sewer go through the Ashtabula County sanitary engineer, and septic properties deal with the county health department. For a bursting job the inspector wants to see the pits open; for lining, the post-cure camera video is the record.

Choosing a crew and planning the day

Ask each bidder to provide the inspection footage, state the method in writing and name the liner or pipe product. Ask how the ends will be sealed where the liner meets cast iron at the foundation, a detail that separates careful crews from hurried ones. To compare installers, find a verified CIPP contractor and check that the candidate has worked on century-old clay in Ashtabula County before. On the day of the job, plan for water to be off for several hours, a truck at the curb, and a crew at the cleanout or a small pit by the house.

Pipe Bursting in Jefferson

How pipe bursting works

A steel cable is threaded through the old sewer line from a pit at one end to a pit at the other. A cone-shaped bursting head, with new high-density polyethylene pipe fused to it, is pulled through by a hydraulic unit. The head splits the old clay or cast iron outward into the soil and the new pipe follows in the same alignment at the same depth. The result is a single fused length of pipe with no joints for roots to find.

When bursting is the right call

• Collapsed sections — a liner needs a host pipe to hold its shape; a collapsed run has none.
• Bellies — a low spot that holds water stays a low spot after lining. Bursting lays new pipe on a fresh bed.
• Undersized lines — bursting can upsize a 3-inch lateral to 4 inches; lining slightly reduces diameter.
• Badly deformed pipe — Orangeburg that has flattened, or cast iron with most of its bottom gone.

What the job looks like

One pit at the house or cleanout, one at the property line or the street connection, each a few feet square. Utilities that cross within a foot or two of the sewer path are located and potholed first. The pull takes an hour or two; the whole job, including fusing, connections, inspection and backfill, is usually one day.

Permits and the street

If the downstream pit is in the sidewalk, parkway or street, a right-of-way permit and restoration to city standards are required in addition to the plumbing permit. If the connection at the main is replaced, the city inspects it before the pit closes. Confirm who is handling this before work starts.

ZIP codes served in Jefferson

Pipe Bursting is available throughout Jefferson, including ZIP codes 44047.

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Questions we hear in Jefferson