Age and cold weather conditions contributed to a 20-inch hole in a water main line that took city workers more than 12 hours to repair.

Wednesday, December 29, 1999

Age and cold weather conditions contributed to a 20-inch hole in a water main line that took city workers more than 12 hours to repair.

Ironton City Water Department workers responded to calls at the Third and Spruce streets line break in the early morning hours Tuesday and proceeded to close the intersection of the two streets throughout the day.

Although cold weather did contribute, a break of this size is a direct result of age, said John McCabe, public services coordinator.

"Cold was a factor, but the way it broke –  20 inches of the side just blew out –  indicates stress and fatigue from age," McCabe said. "This line was installed prior to 1926. I’m not sure how many years longer than that it has been there."

City workers experienced several difficulties while repairing the main line, not the least of which was that they were unable to shut the water off while making the repairs.

"There isn’t a boil advisory because we repaired it live, so the water wasn’t shut off," he said. "Most of the valves in that part of town are so old we can’t use them, so we probably couldn’t have shut off the water anyway."

Another problem during the repairs included lack of manpower, he added.

"The dilemma we had yesterday was that we didn’t have many people to call in," McCabe said. "With it being the end of the year, a lot of the workers are trying to get vacation time in, so we had a man from just about every department to make a crew."

The break was much more severe than the usual leaks and ruptures, which also indicated age problems with the line.

"We had to cut the line in two and put in a new piece of water main," McCable said. "It takes time to repair something that size. Most of the breaks are cracks or small holes, but on this, the whole side blew out."

An exact count of customers affected is not known, McCabe said.

"I do know that on Seventh Street they had low pressure and that the line makes a loop system," he said.

At about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, the crew emerged victorious, having successfully repaired the damage and restoring full water pressure to affected customers.

The work isn’t over yet, however, he added.

"Now we will have to do the street restoration work," he said. "We will put in new concrete and then asphalt over that."

During the restoration work, the streets should remain open, he said.

There were no damages reported to nearby buildings from the water flow. Water crews are still working on minor repairs in the city.