Water out in much of Barre
|
|
Workers repair a damaged water main on Hill Street in Barre after a burst was reported at 3 a.m. Saturday, leaving much of the city without water. Barre Mayor Thomas Lauzon, in white shirt, looks on. PHOTO BY KYLE MARTEL |
Toolbox
Times Argus Staff - Published: June 28, 2009
BARRE – A high-pressure water main on Hill Street burst leaving about two-thirds of the city without water on Saturday and badly damaging the street, according to Barre City Director of Public Works Reginald Abare.
The gushing water destroyed about 1,000 feet of Hill Street, forcing the city to close the road from Woodland Drive to Patterson Street, Abare said.
"When (the pipe) split it put out a tremendous amount of water," said Abare.
All that water eroded the subsurface of the street, Abare said, which left some of the pavement rippled and broken.
Hill Street will likely be closed for another week or two as a contractor strips the pavement and repairs the sub base, said Abare.
The broken water main was reported at about 3 a.m. on Saturday and city workers spent the next hour isolating the rupture, which was between Nelson Street and Woodland Drive, Abare said.
City workers were finishing repairs to the pipe at 7:30 p.m. yesterday, but water was not yet turned on again.
Abare said the water will be discolored for two or three days and warned people to make sure their water is clear before doing their laundry.
The water main that broke was laid in 1931, which isn't as old as some pipe in the city, said Abare.
"We don't plan on replacing it right off," he said. "We got a few years of life left in it."
He pointed out that it's a single 6-foot section that failed.
"It's not like the whole pipe is failed," said Abare.
Mayor Thomas Lauzon acknowledged that the pipes were "aged" but denied that the water main break was a sign of larger infrastructure problems in the city.
"Out of 87 miles we had a six-foot section that split," he said.
Lauzon received calls from Barre residents Saturday about the situation and was grateful for people who were understanding of the situation — but said some were not.
"One gentleman called and said he was going to protest my house," said Lauzon.
36