Some of San Diego’s oldest pipes are buried Downtown. To catch up with growth and change, the city is working to redirect the flow of water and sewage through these pipes away from the footprint of the ballpark and to upsize to accommodate anticipated growth.

Much of the heavy lifting associated with this task has been assigned to BRH-Garver. The firm is responsible for replacing 24,000 feet of pipe from Second Avenue to 17th Street and from Market to Commercial streets. With the effort about 80 percent complete, the firm is working on water pipes on Imperial Avenue between 14th and 16th streets.

“The old pipes were made of cast iron and concrete,” says Mike Arme, vice president of BRH-Garver. “They are rotting from the inside out because of the minerals that grow inside and deteriorate it. Also when you turn off and on the water supply, surges often blow weak lines out.” The new pipes will be made of PVC, which is the city’s standard piping material, which has a 100-year lifespan.

Arme expects construction to be completed by September. There are 1,500 feet of water pipes and 4,000 of sewer pipes left to replace.

Arme says construction Downtown is more difficult than other areas because of heavy traffic from commuters combined with increased local traffic. Arme predicts construction-related congestion will worsen in the next five years. “Land is getting scarce and the city has a concentrated effort to redevelop Downtown’s infrastructure.”

BRH-Garver, based in Houston, has worked in San Diego since 1990. Project manager Paul Mochel and field foreman Dan Beeson are very familiar with San Diego. Mochel has lived here since 1990, and Beeson was born here.

— Erin H. Korntved