The project planning team of the Veterans Affairs Hudson Valley Health Care System couldn’t find a plumbing contractor who could meet the unique specifications of the drainpipe rehabilitation job at its historic Franklin Delano Roosevelt Campus in Montrose, N.Y., which provides tertiary care in acute and chronic psychiatry. The roof drainage system of the 30 office-style buildings — gutter drains with 40-ft. to 50-ft. vertical drops of 3-in. cast-iron pipe — was completely concealed within the walls of its appealing architecture and exterior brick veneers during initial construction.
In crawl spaces beneath the buildings, the drains made a 90° transition to 4-in. horizontal pipe in concrete slab-on-grade to lead rain water to the storm sewer system. Neither interior wall demolition to access the pipe nor exterior modification to reroute them were satisfactory options, so the chosen rehabilitation method was vertical cured-in-place-pipe technique.