July 5, 2022

Trinity River Main Stem Project Makes Trenchless Report Cover Story

Freese and Nichols’ application of trenchless technology to help deliver the Trinity River Main Stem Water Supply project was featured as the cover story in the Texas & Oklahoma Trenchless Report 2022. The North American Society for Trenchless Technology South Central Chapter publishes the report.

Cameron Lawrence, a Project Manager in the Water/Wastewater Transmission Group in Houston, wrote the article and presented on the project at The 6th Trenchless Technology and Pipe Conference, held at the University of Texas at Arlington in May.

The Trinity River Main Stem Water Supply project was conceived as a drought contingency measure for the North Texas Municipal Water District in 2011. Freese and Nichols served as the design engineer.

While many river intake pump stations include two pump stations — a low-lift into a sedimentation basin then a high-head pump station to send the water down the pipeline — the Trinity River Main Stem Pump Station used a gravity-fed intake from the river to a basin to eliminate the low-head pump station. The project applied trenchless technology, using a microtunnel boring machine to connect the pump station to the Trinity River.

For more details, read “Trenchless Technology Applied to River Intake Pump Stations: Trinity River Main Stem Water Supply Project” in the NASTT-SC Texas & Oklahoma Trenchless Report 2022. (See Page 14)