How Trenchless Innovations Helps Protect Chicago’s Urban Waterways
At Trenchless Innovations, we’ve seen firsthand how our methods protect Chicago’s precious waterways while saving our customers significant money on excavation costs. The Chicago River, Lake Michigan, and the extensive network of smaller waterways that define our city are vital ecological resources that deserve protection. Today, we want to share how trenchless technology is making a difference for both our environment and your wallet.
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Protecting Chicago’s Aquatic Ecosystems
Chicago’s waterways face enough challenges without adding construction disruption to the mix. Traditional excavation methods near waterways can cause serious environmental issues:
- Sediment runoff into water bodies, reducing water quality and harming aquatic life
- Disruption of delicate shoreline vegetation that serves as natural filtration
- Risk of exposing and releasing legacy contaminants buried in soils
- Temporary but significant habitat disruption for local wildlife
When we use trenchless methods like cured-in-place or pulled-in-place, we dramatically reduce these risks. Our techniques create minimal surface disruption, sometimes requiring only small entry and exit points rather than long, exposed trenches.
Reducing Carbon Footprint
The environmental benefits of trenchless technology extend beyond just protecting our waterways. We’re proud that our methods significantly reduce the carbon footprint of infrastructure projects:
Traditional excavation requires multiple heavy diesel machines operating for extended periods—backhoes, dump trucks, compactors, and more. These vehicles emit considerable carbon dioxide and other pollutants into Chicago’s air.
In contrast, our trenchless operations typically use fewer pieces of equipment for shorter durations. A recent project near the North Branch showed that our trenchless solution reduced equipment operation time by nearly 60% compared to conventional methods—that’s less fuel consumed and fewer emissions released.
Minimizing Material Waste
When conventional excavation happens, massive amounts of soil and pavement must be removed, transported, and disposed of—creating a waste management challenge and using significant resources.
Our trenchless approaches generate a fraction of the waste material. This reduction in material waste means fewer trucks on Chicago’s already congested roads and less material ending up in landfills.
Preserving Urban Greenspaces & Trees
Chicago’s parkways and green spaces near waterways are precious resources for both people and wildlife. Traditional excavation methods often require removing trees and vegetation with root systems that can take decades to replace.
We recently completed a sewer rehabilitation project along the lakefront where conventional methods would have required removing seven mature trees. Using trenchless technology, all seven trees were preserved—maintaining the ecological benefits they provide, including stormwater management that helps protect Lake Michigan’s water quality.
How These Environmental Benefits Save You Money
Here’s where protecting the environment aligns perfectly with protecting your budget:
Lower Restoration Costs: With minimal surface disruption, you won’t need to spend thousands on landscape restoration, repaving, or replanting. A recent residential project in Lincoln Park saved the homeowner approximately $4,500 in restoration costs alone.
No Environmental Remediation Surprises: When you open up the ground near waterways, you sometimes find contamination that requires costly remediation. By keeping soil disturbance to a minimum, we help you avoid these budget-busting surprises.
Shorter Project Timelines: Environmental protection measures for traditional excavation near waterways can add weeks to a project timeline. Our methods typically complete jobs in a fraction of the time, reducing labor costs and minimizing disruption to your property or business.
Real Results in Chicago
At Trenchless Innovations, we believe that what’s good for Chicago’s environment is also good for our customers. By choosing trenchless technology for your next underground infrastructure project, you’re making a choice that protects our city’s precious waterways while keeping more money in your pocket. Ready to schedule your service? Give us a call at 708-758-5070 today!