The main phase of the construction site for the renovation of the water networks in the Villanova district of Cagliari is nearing completion. A key intervention is scheduled for Wednesday 28 May: the connections of the new pipes in via Abba, between via Garibaldi and via Einaudi. The works, in line with the schedule, will involve a limited stretch and will involve the temporary suspension of the water supply only between via Orlando and via Oristano, from 8:30 to 14:00.
The maxi-project, financed with European funds for a total amount of 1.3 million euros, has already transformed ten of the eleven planned intervention areas, through the replacement of obsolete pipes with new, more resistant and durable spheroidal cast iron pipes.
As agreed with the Municipality, to limit as much as possible the inevitable repercussions on road traffic, the construction site has been divided into sub-zones . No new section is opened before the previous one is completed: a choice that has allowed us to work in an orderly fashion, without blocking the entire district.
With the work completed in via Einaudi, Orlando, Oristano and Iglesias, the technicians are now preparing for the final phase in the “Sonnino district” . But the construction site does not stop: with the end of the school year, the interventions will move to the “San Vincenzo Medio district”, in via Ozieri, Macomer and Tempio. The works will be carried out in the summer precisely to avoid interference with school activities.
THE CONTRACT. The new construction site for the efficiency of the water networks in Cagliari will lead to the complete replacement of a total of 1.2 kilometers of pipes between main lines and connections to utilities in the Villanova neighborhood. The streets involved in the renovation operations will be eight in total: Via Einaudi, via Orlando, via Abba, via Oristano and via Iglesias in the “Sonnino district” and via Ozieri, via Macomer and via Tempio in the “San Vincenzo Medio district”. The investment is 1.3 million euros: these resources are financed through the European development and cohesion funds “Fsc – “Interventions of strategic regional relevance for the water sector”. In the same line of financing there are also two ongoing contracts, for a further 8 million euros, which concern the renovation of the backbone that connects the San Michele reservoirs to those of Monti Urpinu.
CRITICAL ISSUES. The intervention is based on an analysis of the most degraded and fault-prone sections of pipelines. In the last ten years, almost a hundred repair interventions have been necessary on these roads. Starting from this data, the roads with the greatest critical issues were identified and a “priority scale” was subsequently developed based mainly on the number of faults and malfunctions of the same pipeline. In particular, the criticality index corresponds to the number of annual interventions per km and is extremely high in the sections in question.
THE MATERIALS.
The project was started from an in-depth analysis of the critical issues of the city's water network: in the last ten years, almost 100 repair interventions have been recorded in this area alone, with one of the highest failure rates in the city.
The new pipes, with a diameter of 150 millimeters, are designed to ensure tightness and durability. The joints will be made with high-resistance elastomeric rings, while the inside of the pipes will be coated with aluminous cement mortar, thus protecting the water from contamination and ensuring greater resistance over time.
