Trenchless methods
Pipe bursting in Denver: full replacement through two small pits
When a Denver lateral has collapsed, folded or outgrown the house, lining is off the table and bursting takes over. This page explains how new HDPE is pulled through the old path, when it beats a liner, what the pits involve, and what to check before the pull.
Serving Denver · Denver County
All Sewer and Plumbing Services, LLC
CIPP Verified installer. Camera inspection before any quote; permits and inspections handled. More about All Sewer and Plumbing Services →
When the old pipe can only show the way
A liner needs a host; bursting needs only a path. That difference is what puts a Denver lateral into the bursting column: Orangeburg that has gone oval under decades of wet clay, vitrified tile that has collapsed where a cottonwood root finally split it, a section crushed by a heavy-equipment pass during a remodel, or a four-inch line that cannot keep up with a house that has doubled its fixtures. The camera makes the call. If it cannot pass, or passes through a pipe that has lost its round, or shows a diameter that is too small for the load, the line is replaced rather than renewed, and bursting does that without the trench.
How the pull works
Two pits are dug at a Denver house: an entry pit at one end of the run and an exit pit at the other. A cable or rod string is pushed through the old pipe from pit to pit. At the entry side, a conical bursting head is attached to the cable with the new HDPE pipe, fused into one continuous length beforehand, trailing behind it. A hydraulic unit at the exit pit pulls the head through. The head splits the old pipe outward into the surrounding soil and the HDPE follows into the opening. On a residential lateral in Denver the pull itself takes well under an hour; the day is spent on pits, locates, fusing and tie-ins. The result is a new pipe along the old alignment, often one size larger, with no joints between the pits.
Why HDPE suits Front Range ground
Fused HDPE has a particular advantage in Denver County soil. The expansive clay that opens joints in three-foot clay tile has no joints to open in a fused line; the pipe flexes slightly with the ground and stays sealed. It does not corrode like cast iron or rot like Orangeburg, and roots have no seam to enter. A design life of decades is realistic, and the smooth bore carries more flow than the rough pipe it replaced even at the same diameter.
Locates, pits and the public side
Because the bursting head displaces soil, the crew needs to know what lies alongside the sewer. Utility locates are called before any digging, and any service crossing within a couple of feet is exposed by hand to confirm clearance. The exit pit is often the sensitive one: where the main runs under the street or alley, the pit may be set at the property line with the final connection made under a right-of-way permit, or the pit itself may sit in the parkway with traffic control and restoration to the city's standard. A good proposal for a Denver burst shows both pit locations on a sketch and states who restores what.
Bursting versus a liner, honestly
Bursting costs more than lining on most Denver residential runs because of the second pit and the fused pipe, and it disturbs more ground. Where the old pipe is round and holding grade, a liner is the better value and leaves the yard nearly untouched. Where the pipe has collapsed, deformed or is too small, a liner is not possible and bursting is the trenchless answer. Where the pipe has a belly, neither method fixes the grade and a short excavation at the low spot comes first. A contractor who recommends bursting should be able to point at the footage that rules out lining. The independent comparison of the methods is at curedinplacepipe.net for the trenchless method background.
Permits, warranty and what you receive
A lateral permit covers the replacement, and a right-of-way permit covers any pit or tie-in on public ground; the contractor pulls both and schedules the inspection. You receive the pre- and post-pull video, the pit sketch, the permit sign-off and a written warranty naming the method and the length replaced. the pipe bursting page from All Sewer and Plumbing Services, LLC for Denver describes how All Sewer and Plumbing Services, LLC runs bursting jobs in Denver, and the installer's standing on the verification roster is shown at All Sewer and Plumbing Services, LLC in the verified installer directory. To find out whether your line is a bursting candidate, start with the camera: call (720) 606-6223. Estimates are free. Call now.
Estimates are free. Call now: (720) 606-6223.
Other trenchless services in Denver
Trenchless Sewer Repair Denver
Repair or replace a failed sewer line with little or no excavation.
Sewer Pipe Lining (CIPP) Denver
A resin-saturated liner cured in place forms a new, jointless pipe inside the old one.
Sectional Point Repair Denver
A short liner fixes one bad spot and leaves the rest of a sound line alone.
Sewer Camera Inspection Denver
See what is actually wrong before anyone quotes a fix.
Hydro Jetting Denver
High-pressure water strips roots, grease and scale so the pipe can be inspected and lined.
Sewer Line Repair & Replacement Denver
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, and where do they go?+
Each pit is a few feet square and deep enough to reach the pipe, usually four to six feet in Denver. One sits at the house end, often where the lateral leaves the foundation, and one at the connection to the main. When the main is under the street, the exit pit may sit at the property line with the last few feet handled from there under a right-of-way permit.
Can the new pipe be bigger than the old one?+
Yes. Bursting is the one trenchless method that upsizes. A four-inch clay lateral serving a house that has added bathrooms or a basement apartment can come out as a six-inch HDPE line in the same pass. The bursting head is sized for the new pipe and displaces soil outward to make room.
Will bursting damage other utilities?+
The head pushes soil outward as it passes, so a gas, water or electric service running tight against the sewer is at risk. Every bursting job starts with utility locates and, where a crossing is close, a hand-dug exposure to confirm clearance. The crew should walk you through the locate marks before the pull.
Is Orangeburg a candidate for bursting?+
It is the ideal candidate. Orangeburg in the 1950s and 1960s subdivisions of Denver County ovals and folds, which rules out a liner, but its layered fiber splits easily ahead of a bursting head. The new HDPE restores a round pipe at full diameter with fused joints that cannot leak or admit roots.
What does the finished job include?+
A post-pull camera video showing the HDPE from end to end, the connection at the main and the tie-in at the house, backfilled and compacted pits with surface restoration as agreed, the permit sign-off, and a written warranty naming the method and the length replaced. Estimates are free; call now.