Pipe Bursting in Ridgecrest

Ridgecrest exists because of Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, and the town's housing stock follows the base's hiring waves. The oldest streets near Ridgecrest Boulevard and China Lake Boulevard date to the 1940s and 1950s, when civilian engineers and technicians needed homes in a hurry. Ranch-style tracts spread through the 1960s and 1970s, and the 1980s added subdivisions toward the north and west. Very little of it was built with the idea that the ground would move, but on July 4 and 5 of 2019 it did, and the sewer laterals under thousands of those homes have not been the same since.

The Indian Wells Valley is high desert at roughly 2,300 feet, with sandy, well-drained alluvial soils and a climate that runs from hard winter freezes to brutal summer afternoons. That combination is rough on buried pipe in its own way: sand migrates into any opening, temperature cycles work rigid joints loose, and there is little clay to hold a pipe bed in place. Trenchless repair, which rebuilds or replaces a lateral from one or two small pits, keeps excavation in loose sand to a minimum and has become the standard recommendation in town.

Pipe conditions in Ridgecrest neighborhoods

Homes from the 1940s through the 1960s were typically plumbed with vitrified clay laterals in short mortared lengths and cast iron under the slab. Clay in sandy soil has a particular failure pattern: once a joint opens, fine sand washes in with each flush and settles along the bottom, slowly reducing capacity until the line backs up. Roots from the mulberries, Mondell pines and tamarisk planted for shade in older yards add to the problem wherever they can reach a joint.

The 1970s and 1980s tracts used ABS, which resists roots and sand infiltration but is brittle at fittings when the ground shifts. After the 2019 earthquakes, the most common defects camera crews find in those lines are cracked couplings where the pipe exits the foundation and sheared sections at the property line connection. Orangeburg fiber pipe is uncommon here because most of the town was built after its heyday, but it does turn up occasionally in the oldest blocks.

Which method fits which defect

Hydro jetting clears sand and roots so the camera can see the pipe wall, and the recording then determines the fix.

• CIPP lining is right for clay laterals with opened joints, sand infiltration and minor earthquake offsets. The resin-saturated liner bridges every joint at once and leaves a smooth interior that sand cannot enter. Read more at what cured-in-place lining actually does.
• Pipe bursting is the answer when a lateral is sheared or collapsed beyond what a liner can follow, which is common on quake-damaged lines. New HDPE is pulled in as the old pipe is split, with a pit at each end.
• Sectional point repair handles a single cracked ABS fitting or one offset joint without touching the rest of the line.
• Spin-cast lining suits the larger cast iron and clay mains serving commercial buildings along China Lake Boulevard and the older base-adjacent complexes.

Earthquake offsets larger than a liner can negotiate, and any sag that holds water, must be corrected by excavation or bursting before lining is considered. A careful installer will show you that spot on the video rather than lining over it.

Permits, locating and who owns what

Within Ridgecrest city limits, the city issues building permits for sewer repair and encroachment permits for any work reaching the street, and the city's wastewater division operates the collection system. Properties in the unincorporated parts of the valley, including much of Inyokern and the ranchette country east and south of town, are under Kern County Public Works and are often on septic. DigAlert 811 must be notified before digging anywhere. Owners are generally responsible for the lateral from the house to the connection at the main, which in many Ridgecrest streets means the portion under the asphalt as well. There is no point-of-sale sewer inspection ordinance in Ridgecrest, but post-quake buyers and insurers ask for sewer scopes routinely. The permit, locate, clean, inspect, repair and verify steps follow the order of operations on a trenchless job on most residential jobs.

What an estimate visit looks like

The technician locates the cleanout, runs the camera to the main, and reviews the footage with you on site before writing a scope that names the method, access points, downtime and permit responsibility. Ridgecrest is at the far edge of the Southern California service territory overview, so ask whether the crew works the high desert regularly and understands the sand and the temperature swings. If the line is sound, the right outcome is a cleaned pipe and a copy of the recording for your files.

Pipe Bursting in Ridgecrest

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 Ridgecrest

Pipe Bursting is available throughout Ridgecrest, including ZIP codes 93555, 93556.

More trenchless services in Ridgecrest

Questions we hear in Ridgecrest