Trenchless methods
Pipe bursting in Augusta: replacing a collapsed sewer line through two pits
If a Augusta sewer line has crushed, flattened or simply cannot accept a liner, pipe bursting installs a new one on the old alignment, and no trench is needed. This page explains how the method works, which pipes it suits, and how Piedmont rock and deep laterals affect the job.
Serving Augusta · Richmond County
Fletch Barney Trenchless, LLC
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When the old pipe has nothing left to offer
Lining depends on the old pipe still being a pipe. Some Augusta laterals have gone past that point: terracotta crushed by a tree root or a settled driveway, Orangeburg that has slumped into an oval, cast iron rusted through at the bottom for a long stretch. In those cases the camera cannot get through, or it shows a cross-section no liner could cure against. Pipe bursting is the trenchless method for exactly this condition. Rather than preserving the old pipe, it destroys it in place and leaves a new one where it was.
How the pull works
Two openings are excavated: an insertion pit where the new pipe feeds in, and a machine pit where the pulling rig sits. A steel cable or rod run is passed through the old lateral between them. The crew then fixes a cone-shaped bursting head, a size larger than the old pipe, to the cable, with the fused high-density polyethylene string trailing behind. The hydraulic rig winches the head toward the machine pit. As it advances, the head splits the old clay or fiber pipe and pushes the fragments outward into the surrounding soil, while the HDPE follows into the bore it leaves. By the time the head arrives at the machine pit, the new pipe spans the entire distance between the two openings. Connections are made at each end, the camera verifies the run, and the pits are backfilled.
Why fused HDPE is the right material for Augusta soil
The replacement pipe is joined above ground by heat fusion before the pull, so it enters the ground as one continuous piece with no joints along its length. That matters in Richmond County because jointless pipe gives swelling and shrinking kaolin clay nothing to pull apart and gives the roots of oaks, pines and sweetgums no seam to find. HDPE also flexes slightly with soil movement rather than cracking, and its smooth interior resists grease and scale. A burst lateral in Augusta commonly comes out one size larger than the original, which adds capacity for a household that has grown or a basement bathroom added since the house was built.
What rock, depth and slope do to the plan
Pipe bursting is forgiving of soil but not of everything. Where granite or hard saprolite lies close to the old pipe, the fragments have nowhere to go and the head can stall or deflect, so the installer probes the alignment and may choose a different trenchless method for that reach. Deep laterals on Augusta hillsides mean deep pits with shoring, which adds time and cost at the pit rather than along the run. A line with a belly keeps its belly after bursting, because the new pipe follows the old path; a sag has to be corrected by excavation either before or instead of the pull. Rock, depth and grade are site facts, and the pre-job walk with the camera footage in hand is where they get settled. The bursting service for this area is described on the Fletch Barney Trenchless, LLC pipe bursting page for Augusta.
Locates, permits and neighbors
Because the bursting head displaces soil outward, any utility crossing within a couple of feet of the old sewer must be found and exposed by hand before the pull. A utility locate request precedes every job, and in established Augusta neighborhoods the water service, gas line and irrigation often cross the sewer path. A plumbing permit is required and, where the exit pit sits at the tap in the street or easement, a right-of-way permit as well. The pull itself is loud only at the hydraulic unit and is usually finished in an hour or two; the pit work on either side is what fills the day.
Orangeburg, the usual bursting candidate
Several postwar subdivisions in Augusta were plumbed with Orangeburg, a bituminized fiber pipe that has now exceeded its life everywhere it was used. It softens, blisters and deforms into an oval that will not hold a liner. Bursting handles it cleanly: the head shreds the fiber and the HDPE replaces it in a single pass. If your house dates from the late 1940s through the early 1960s and the camera shows a flattened, tar-colored pipe, this is the method you will likely be offered. Contractors verified for trenchless work are listed at other verified trenchless contractors, and background on the methods is at the trenchless reference site. Fletch Barney Trenchless, LLC supplies a post-pull video and a written warranty with every bursting job.
Estimates are free. Call now: (877) 959-0155.
Other trenchless services in Augusta
Trenchless Sewer Repair Augusta
Repair or replace a failed sewer line with little or no excavation.
Sewer Pipe Lining (CIPP) Augusta
A resin-saturated liner cured in place forms a new, jointless pipe inside the old one.
Sectional Point Repair Augusta
A short liner fixes one bad spot and leaves the rest of a sound line alone.
Sewer Camera Inspection Augusta
See what is actually wrong before anyone quotes a fix.
Hydro Jetting Augusta
High-pressure water strips roots, grease and scale so the pipe can be inspected and lined.
Sewer Line Repair & Replacement Augusta
When a line cannot be lined: spot excavation or trenchless replacement, chosen from the footage.
Questions we hear about pipe bursting
How big are the pits?+
Each pit is sized for the equipment and the depth, usually a few feet square at the surface and larger at depth when shoring is required. On a typical Augusta lateral the entry pit sits near the foundation or an existing cleanout and the exit pit near the property line or the main. The installer should mark both locations with you before any digging.
Can bursting increase the pipe diameter?+
Yes. Upsizing by one pipe size is routine and two sizes is possible in favorable soil. The bursting head expands the bore as it passes. In Richmond County clay this works well; in dense saprolite or where granite is close, the installer may limit the upsize or adjust the alignment.
Will bursting damage nearby utilities?+
The bursting head displaces soil outward, so utilities crossing very close to the old sewer can be affected. That is why a utility locate is mandatory and why the installer pot-holes any crossing within a couple of feet of the line before pulling. Water, gas and irrigation lines in older Augusta yards are the usual concern.
How long does it take?+
A residential lateral is commonly burst and reconnected in one working day, with pit excavation in the morning, the pull at midday and reconnection by afternoon. Deep or rocky pits, long runs and right-of-way work can extend that to two days. Backfill and surface restoration follow once the clay has been compacted properly.
Is pipe bursting better than lining?+
Neither is better; they answer different findings. Lining preserves a pipe that still holds its shape. Bursting replaces one that does not, or one that needs more capacity. The camera footage and a conversation with Fletch Barney Trenchless, LLC will show which applies to your line. Estimates are free; call now.