Sewer & Drain · Nashville, TN
Pipe Bursting in Nashville
A bursting head pulled through the old line splits it outward while new HDPE pipe follows it in, full size or larger.
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Pipe Bursting in Nashville, Tennessee
A bursting head pulled through the old line splits it outward while new HDPE pipe follows it in, full size or larger.
For pipe bursting, Nashville's Sewer and Drain works across Middle Tennessee — licensed, insured, with the price in writing before the work starts. Drain and sewer crews who clear the stoppage first, then put a camera down the line and show you what caused it.
Why homeowners call
Signs that bring people to us for this
- Sewage coming up a floor drain
- Every drain in the house slow at once
- Gurgling toilet when the washer drains
- Sewer smell in the yard or basement
- A soggy, sunken strip over the sewer line
- Roots back in the line every year
- Sump pump running and running
What is included
What our pipe bursting work includes
- Launch pit at one end, receiving pit at the other
- Crossing utilities exposed by hand before the pull
- Steel cable or rods threaded through the old line
- HDPE lengths heat-fused into one continuous pipe
- Bursting head pulled through, fracturing the old pipe outward
- New pipe drawn in behind the head in one pass
- Shielded couplings joining the new pipe at each pit
- Pits backfilled and compacted, then the line filmed
How Pipe Bursting goes, from cleanout to final pass
The new pipe is high-density polyethylene, joined by heating the ends of each length and pressing them together until they fuse. No gasket or glued joint sits anywhere between the two pits, which matters in Middle Tennessee yards where silver maples, willows and sweetgums are always looking for a way into a sewer.
As the head fractures the old pipe it pushes the pieces and the surrounding soil outward, and that movement can crack a gas service, a water line or a neighbor’s sewer running close by. Before a pull we have the public lines marked through Tennessee 811, find the private ones it skips, and hand-dig any close crossing so it can be watched while the pipe moves.
Shallow limestone changes a bursting job. Where the original trench was cut into rock, the broken pipe has little room to go, and the pull takes more force or stalls. Opening the launch pit tells us early what the line was laid in, and that is the point where we confirm bursting or change the plan.
Bursting is the one trenchless method that can put in a bigger pipe than the one coming out. It also handles pipe a liner can’t: Orangeburg pressed into an oval, clay in shards, cast iron with its bottom rotted away. A sharp turn is its limit, and a run with a 90-degree bend usually gets a pit at the bend.
Also available
Other sewer, drain and septic work
Trenchless Sewer Repair
Lining or bursting a failed sewer lateral through a cleanout or a pair of small access pits, so the lawn, driveway and trees above it stay where they are.
Learn moreCIPP Pipe Lining
A resin-soaked liner pulled into the old pipe and cured hard in place, leaving a jointless pipe inside the cracked one.
Learn moreSectional and Spot Repair
One cracked joint or one root entry sealed with a short liner, when the camera shows the rest of the line is sound.
Learn moreTrenchless Sewer Replacement
The whole lateral from the house to the main renewed without a trench, by lining or bursting depending on what the camera found.
Learn moreService area
Sewer and drain calls we take across Middle Tennessee
Our trucks reach Nashville and 100 more towns in 12 counties, and we take sewer and septic calls anywhere within about an hour of the city.
FAQ
Pipe Bursting: what people ask first
Is pipe bursting safe for the utilities near my sewer line?
Yes, when the crossings are found and exposed before the pull. The bursting head displaces soil as it breaks the old pipe, so a line running close by can be stressed. Tennessee 811 marks the public lines, a private locate covers the ones it doesn’t, and anything crossing near the sewer is dug open so the crew can watch it during the pull.
Can pipe bursting go through a collapsed sewer line?
Often, as long as a rod or cable can be pushed through the collapse. The head only needs a path to follow, and a partly caved-in section breaks apart as readily as cracked pipe does. A collapse packed solid with soil that nothing will pass needs a small excavation at that point first, after which the pull can carry on through the rest of the line.
What kind of pipe goes in during pipe bursting?
High-density polyethylene, known as HDPE, in nearly all residential work. It arrives in lengths that are heat-fused into one piece on site before the pull, so the finished line has no joints between the two pits. It flexes enough to follow a gently curving route, and it doesn’t corrode or crack the way clay and cast iron do.
Is pipe bursting worth it compared with digging a trench?
It usually is when something worth keeping sits over the line: a driveway, a patio, landscaping or a large tree. Two pits disturb a fraction of the ground a full trench does, and there is far less soil to put back and watch settle. On an open lawn with a short, shallow line, digging can come out even, and we price both when it is close.
Free estimate
Book pipe bursting with our crew
Call or write to Nashville's Sewer and Drain with what the drains are doing; we clear the line first and price any repair from the camera footage.