Trenchless methods
Pipe bursting in Atlanta
A liner has to follow a pipe that still has a shape. When a Atlanta lateral has collapsed, flattened or sunk into a belly, pipe bursting shatters the old line and pulls a new one through its path, leaving the yard, the driveway and the street in place.
Serving Atlanta · Fulton County
Fletch Barney Trenchless, LLC
CIPP Verified installer. Camera inspection before any quote; permits and inspections handled. More about Fletch Barney Trenchless →
What bursting does
Pipe bursting is trenchless replacement rather than trenchless repair. A cable or rod is threaded through the old lateral between two pits. A hardened conical bursting head, larger than the old pipe, is attached at one end with the new high-density polyethylene pipe behind it, and a hydraulic unit at the other pit pulls the assembly through. The head fractures the clay, cast iron or Orangeburg outward into the soil, and the new pipe follows into the void along the exact path of the old one. When the head reaches the far pit, the new line is cut to length, tied in at the building and at the main, and the pits are closed. The run between them was never opened.
When it is the right method
Bursting is for the laterals a liner cannot save. In Atlanta that usually means one of a short list: a clay line that has collapsed where a water oak root ball lifted and broke it; Orangeburg in a 1960s subdivision that has gone flat; cast iron under a slab that has rusted away along its bottom for a long stretch; a belly where the red clay settled and left a low spot that holds water and solids; a PVC line crushed under a driveway or an addition; or a lateral that is too small for the number of fixtures now draining into it. Bursting also makes sense when the owner wants new pipe rather than a liner inside old pipe, and it is the only trenchless method that can increase the diameter. The comparison at the CIPP reference walks through each case.
How the job runs
The camera inspection comes first, with the sonde locating depth and path and marking the pit locations. Utilities are located and marked before any digging. The two pits are excavated, which in parts of the metro means breaking granite for a few feet rather than for the length of the yard. The HDPE is fused into one piece on site and laid out along the line. The bursting head is pulled through, the new pipe is connected at both ends, and a camera run confirms the new lateral is round, continuous and running downhill. The pits are backfilled and compacted, and the surface is restored. Most residential bursts are completed in one to two days. the verified installer bursting lines in Atlanta performs bursting throughout metro Atlanta and north Georgia.
What you end up with
A fused HDPE lateral has no joints along its length, so there is nothing for roots to find and nothing for groundwater to enter, which matters in the older in-town areas where infiltration through broken laterals is a public concern under the long-running consent decree. The pipe is flexible enough to ride the seasonal movement of the clay without cracking and does not scale or corrode. The installer provides a warranty in writing and a video of the finished line. If the lot is low-lying, the pit at the house is a convenient spot for a backwater valve, which keeps a storm-surcharged main from pushing back into the building, and a new cleanout is installed as part of the connection.
Permits, the right-of-way and who owns what
A bursting job requires a plumbing permit from the local building department, plus a right-of-way permit when the pulling pit or the tap at the main sits in the sidewalk or street, with whatever traffic control the jurisdiction requires. Lateral ownership differs around the metro: the central city holds owners responsible all the way to the main, whereas several suburban counties look after the right-of-way portion themselves. Before the pits are laid out the contractor confirms the rule for Atlanta, because it determines where the job ends and whether the utility makes the tap itself. Permits, inspections and the utility coordination are handled by the contractor.
What to ask before the work
Ask to see the inspection footage that rules out lining and to have the reasoning explained. Ask what size HDPE is going in and whether the line is being upsized. Ask how deep the pits are and whether rock is expected. Ask who files the permits and who restores the pavement if a pit is in the sidewalk. Ask for the post-installation video as a condition of final payment. The installers at the verified installer directory are listed because they answer those questions the same way for every customer in Fulton County.
Estimates are free. Call now: (877) 959-0155.
Other trenchless services in Atlanta
Trenchless Sewer Repair Atlanta
Repair or replace a failed sewer line with little or no excavation.
Sewer Pipe Lining (CIPP) Atlanta
A resin-saturated liner cured in place forms a new, jointless pipe inside the old one.
Sectional Point Repair Atlanta
A short liner fixes one bad spot and leaves the rest of a sound line alone.
Sewer Camera Inspection Atlanta
See what is actually wrong before anyone quotes a fix.
Hydro Jetting Atlanta
High-pressure water strips roots, grease and scale so the pipe can be inspected and lined.
Sewer Line Repair & Replacement Atlanta
When a line cannot be lined: spot excavation or trenchless replacement, chosen from the footage.
Questions we hear about pipe bursting
When does bursting make more sense than lining?+
When the host pipe cannot hold a liner: a collapsed section, a long belly with standing water, Orangeburg gone oval, a crushed run under a driveway, or a pipe too small for the building. Lining would preserve the bad shape; bursting replaces the pipe outright. The camera inspection decides, and a good contractor explains the choice with the footage in front of you.
How large are the pits?+
The entry pit near the house is sized for the new pipe to be fed in, a few feet on a side; the pulling pit at the far end holds the winch or hydraulic unit and is somewhat larger. Both are small compared with a trench the full length of the lateral. Where granite is close to the surface, the pits are the only rock that has to be broken.
What pipe is installed?+
High-density polyethylene, fused into a single continuous length with no joints before it is pulled in. It does not corrode, roots cannot enter it, and it flexes slightly as the clay swells and shrinks instead of cracking. A fused HDPE lateral is rated for decades of service and is the standard replacement pipe for trenchless work.
Can the new line be larger than the old one?+
Yes. The bursting head is sized to fracture the old pipe and push the fragments outward into the surrounding clay, and the new pipe behind it can be one size up. A house that has been draining through an undersized four-inch line can come out of the job with the capacity it should have had.
How do I get a quote?+
Phone us or use the form. The camera goes down the line first, the recording and a written finding come to you, and if bursting is the right method the quote says so and explains why. Estimates are free; call now.