Water main moving for Kadina CBD revamp

From next Monday, SA Water will start relocating around 190 metres of water main under Graves Street in Kadina between Goyder and Hallett Streets, to accommodate new verandahs being installed as part of the Copper Coast Council’s CBD redevelopment plan.

SA Water's General Manager of Asset Operations and Delivery Mark Gobbie said although the existing water main had not reached the end of its service life, brand new pipes will be installed to the new position under Graves Street.  

“By law, water mains must be a minimum of four metres away from any building structures, to allow access for repairs and maintenance, and avoid the risk of water leaks weakening a structure and making it unsafe,” Mark said.

“The new verandahs would have sat directly above our existing water main, so although the pipe still has 18 – 28 years of service life left, we’re relocating and replacing them now.

“The new section of pipe will be made of PVC, which is a newer, flexible material, more resistant to soil movements compared to the existing, rigid cast iron pipe currently under Graves Street.”

Both old and new water mains have an expected lifespan of 100 years. More than half of SA Water’s 27,000 kilometre network of pipes are under 50 years old, which is relatively young by Australian water industry standards.

Work to install the new water main will begin once the council has removed existing traffic islands, and will typically take place between 7 am and 5 pm from Monday to Friday, taking around three weeks to complete.  

Graves Street will remain open to local traffic during the works, with some temporary changes to traffic and parking conditions between Goyder and Hallett Streets.

“Please be alert to these changed conditions in the area, which are needed for the safety of road users, pedestrians and our workers,” Mark said

“We’ll be giving advance notice to local businesses and residents about a temporary disruption to their mains-supplied water, for when we cut over the old and new pipes. This has been scheduled, for a Sunday, to minimise the impact on trade.”

Separate to this water main replacement, to accommodate the design of Kadina’s new look CBD, SA Water is investing $137 million over four years to renew around 375,000 metres of water main across South Australia.

For more information on when and where water mains are being renewed across the state, as well as details on existing pipes, take a look at the interactive map available at sawater.com.au.

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