Pipe Bursting in Austinburg

Austinburg's housing and where the sewer reaches

Austinburg was settled in 1799, and its historic center along Route 307 and Route 45 still holds Greek Revival and Victorian homes from the 1800s. Scattered through the township are century farmhouses, and around the I-90 interchange and along Route 45 there are ranches, commercial buildings and newer houses from the 1960s onward. Public sewer reaches only part of the township, mainly the corridor near the interstate and some of the denser lots; the rest is on septic.

Where sewer does exist, the laterals under the older homes are often vitrified clay in jointed lengths, connected when the mains came through. Mid-century houses may have clay, Orangeburg or asbestos-cement pipe, and anything from the late 1970s on is generally PVC. Older homes with basements usually have cast iron through the foundation wall. Because sewer arrived relatively late in the township, some laterals are long, running a hundred feet or more across a deep lot to reach the main.

River valley clay, deep frost and roots

The township straddles the Grand River valley, and its soil is glacial till with a heavy clay fraction, with wetter ground along the river and the creeks that feed it. Clay holds water, and in the snowbelt the frost line runs three feet or more. Saturated clay heaves when it freezes and lifts jointed pipe unevenly, so a lateral that was laid to grade decades ago now has offset joints and bellies.

Silver maple, sycamore and willow grow along the river and the roadside ditches, and old sugar maples line the historic center. Their roots follow the moisture that leaks from every clay joint and fill the pipe over a few seasons. Long rural laterals have more joints and more opportunities for root intrusion than a short village run, and a camera inspection on an older Austinburg lot often shows roots at a dozen joints or more.

Which repair fits a township lateral

The camera inspection and a locate come first, and on a long lateral the locate matters because the installer needs to know the depth and path before choosing pits. If the clay is cracked, rooted and leaking but still round, cured-in-place pipe lining handles the whole run from a single access point. The crew cuts roots, hydro jets the pipe, then inverts or pulls an epoxy-saturated felt liner through and cures it with hot water, steam or UV light. Long runs are well suited to lining because the alternative is a long trench.

If the camera cannot pass a collapsed or crushed section, pipe bursting replaces the run with fused HDPE pulled between two pits. On a deep rural lateral the pit near the main may be substantial, and the crew should shore and dewater it properly. A sectional point repair, a short liner cured over one failed joint, makes sense when the rest of the pipe is sound.

Permits, the right-of-way and inspection

Sewered properties in Austinburg go through the Ashtabula County sanitary engineer for the permit and inspection. Pits in a county or township road right-of-way require a permit from the county engineer or the township trustees, and work along Route 45 or Route 307 involves the state transportation department. Septic properties deal with the Ashtabula County health department, and a failing septic lateral between the house and the tank follows the same trenchless logic as a sewer lateral.

On the day and how to choose an installer

Plan on several hours without water, a truck and reel near the house, and a crew working from the cleanout or a pit at the foundation. Lining on even a long lateral is usually a one-day job; bursting can stretch to two with restoration. Before hiring, ask for the camera video, a written method and the product name for the liner or pipe. To compare installers, find a verified CIPP contractor and favor crews that have lined long rural laterals in Ashtabula County clay, since the length and the groundwater here are the parts that trip up the inexperienced.

Pipe Bursting in Austinburg

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 Austinburg

Pipe Bursting is available throughout Austinburg, including ZIP codes 44010.

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Questions we hear in Austinburg