Leongatha – 100 Year Old Water Main to be Replaced

Monday, November 16th, 2015

In the coming weeks, South Gippsland Water will commence works to replace approximately 200 meters of a trunk water main near the intersection of Strzelecki HWY with the South Gippsland HWY and Long Street (the yellow and green lines shown in the map below).

Some sections of this old cast iron water main date back to 1905 whilst more recent sections are still some 60 years old and date back to 1952.  The cast iron main is to be replaced with large 355mm diameter poly pipe.

Construction is scheduled to commence late November, with construction mainly via directional boring technique.  This allows for only minimal excavation of pits for valves and individual service connections.  Customers affected by any water service disruptions will be notified directly prior to any interruptions.

The water main is being replaced in advance of VicRoads work on the Leongatha Heavy Vehicle Alternate Route Project. In recognition of the age of the water main and the fact that roadways and footpaths are being replaced, South Gippsland Water considers it prudent to replace this ageing section of water main before brand new concrete and road upgrade works are commenced.

South Gippsland Water is aware that these works may be disruptive to businesses in the immediate area, as such, some components of work will be undertaken at night and the new main will be laid via the use of directional boring instead of open trenching.   Traffic turning left and right out of the South Gippsland HWY onto Strzelecki HWY and the slip lanes at the intersection of Strzelecki HWY and Long streets will also be effected or blocked for short periods.  During these times, traffic management will be in place. A small number of car parking bays will not be available for the duration of the works.

South Gippsland Water project officers will be onsite through-out the works and should customers or the community have any questions or concerns, they can contact the Corporation on 1300 851 636.