Using Trenchless Technologies to Rehabilitate the Critical Maroon Creek Pipeline

Have you ever wondered how infrastructure is upgraded through dense vegetation and terrain inaccessible by large construction equipment?

In 2019, the City of Aspen needed to address this very problem in order to rehabilitate its Maroon Creek pipeline. Built in 1892 for the Maroon Creek Light and Power Company, the pipeline and accompanying dam have been delivering water to the associated hydropower plant for more than 100 years.

Traversing steep terrain near White River National Forest, much of the pipeline’s condition was unknown due to limited access points. To work around this, our team made four runs through the pipeline using an AMP probe—a remote-controlled vehicle that traveled through the pipeline in four different runs—to assess the condition. With issues identified, the team used trenchless technologies to improve access points for long-term maintenance of the facilities. Using trenchless methods, we can fully rehabilitate this critical pipeline with little disruption to the sensitive environmental area, nearly eliminating the need for heavy equipment during construction.