MEMORANDUM 

TO: Airport Deicing Administrative Record 

FROM: Mark Briggs, ERG

DATE: July 26, 2010

SUBJECT: Estimated Capital and O&M Costs for Additional Stormwater Piping 

This memorandum estimates both the capital and annual operating and maintenance (O&M) 

costs for an airport to install additional stormwater collection and conveyance piping. Costs have 

been developed for transfer of stormwater from deicing areas to either on-site storage and 

treatment facilities, or to the local sanitary sewer system for discharge to a Public Owned 

Treatment Works. 

Costing Approach 

Piping costs to transfer collected stormwater to either on-site treatment or to the local sanitary 

sewer collection system will vary for each airport. Variables which could impact costs include 

existing subsurface utilities, soil types, elevation changes, and anticipated peak precipitation 

events. Because each of these variables are airport specific and the details are not available to 

EPA, ERG assumed costs would be estimated for each airport to construct 10,000 liner feet of 

new subsurface stormwater conveyance piping from various areas around the airport. The 

estimated length of piping is based on comments received on the proposed deicing rule. 

According to the comments from the airline industry, piping lengths will be nearly 10,000 feet to 

accommodate the entire length of the runway. 

Capital and Operating Cost for a Stormwater Conveyance Piping System

Elements of a new stormwater piping system include subsurface concrete piping, manholes and 

catch basins, a lift station and associated pumps, and knife gates through out the system to 

control the direction of flow. ERG obtained 2002 costs for individual elements within the system 

from RSMeans Building Construction Cost Data1

, and adjusted the costs to 2006 dollars. Cost 

factors for plumbing and site work were added to the direct costs based on the Department of 

Defense MILCON estimating procedures2 to obtain total installed direct costs. Indirect costs for 

engineering, permits, scheduling, performance bonds, and contractor markups were added to the 

total installed direct costs. Table 2 shows the estimated installed capital cost for 10,000 linear 

feet of a new stormwater conveyance piping system is approximately $1,141,000. 

 

1 RS Means Construction Cost Data,68th Annual Edition, 2010, RSMeans Company, Inc, Construction Publishers and 

Consultants. 

2

U.S. Department of Defense (USDOD). 2001. Military Construction Program 1391 
Memorandum 

July 26, 2010 

Page 2 

Annual operating and maintenance costs for the piping and conveyance system include periodic 

inspection to verify integrity of the piping system. To estimate labor costs for TV inspection of 

the 18” sewer, ERG made a conservative assumption that an airport would inspect 20 percent of 

the storm sewer system annually (2,000 linear feet), at a rate of $1,350 per day (2006 basis). 

Based on engineering experience, a sewer TV crew of two to three persons can inspect 

approximately 500 feet of piping per day. At a rate of $1,350/day, the annual airport inspection 

cost would be $5,400. 

Summary

The costs included in this memorandum will be used in the airport deicing cost model to estimate 

costs by airport for additional stormwater piping. Costs for additional piping will be combined 

with other costs for collection and recovery including block-and-pump and above-ground storage 

tanks. 
Memorandum 

July 26, 2010 Page 3 

Table 2. Estimated Installed Capital Cost for 10,000 Linear Feet of a Stormwater Conveyance 

Description Units Quantity 

Trench excavation. Assume 6' deep, 3/8 CY backhoe. Assume trench is 4' wide and 10,000 feet per airport a Cubic yard 8889 Backfill and compact trench, compact in 6" lifts vibrate tamp, 300' haul. a Cubic yard 8889 Piping. Assume concrete, 18" diameter. a Linear Feet 10000 Manholes, assume concrete, 6' deep. Manholes spaced at 100' intervals a Each 100 Manhole frames and covers, heavy traffic, 24” dia. a Each 100 Subtotal Direct Cost: Plumbing a

(connectors, extra labor, etc.) % of subtotal direct cost 

Sitework (clearing, grading, surveying) a % of subtotal direct cost Total Direct Cost: Engineering b % of total direct cost Permits b % of total direct cost Scheduling b % of total direct cost Performance bonds b % of total direct cost Insurance (risk, equipment floater, public liability) b % of total direct cost Contractor markup (handling, procuring, subcontracting, change orders, etc.) b % of total direct cost Overhead and profit b % of total direct cost Total Indirect Cost: Total Cost: 

a – RS Means Heavy Construction Cost Data, 64th Edition, 2010. b – U.S. Department of Defense (USDOD). 2001. Military Construction Program 1391.