There is a water main break near 46 Parkwood Boulevard that will affect nearby properties through the morning and possibly into the afternoon. Homes in the area, from Oakwood to Glenwood, will likely have no water or very low pressure.
I biked past that one last night before anyone at City Hall (DPW) had responded to it. There was a huge sheet of thick ice at the corner, mostly on Parkwood and in the Fairview shoulder -- a bicyclist's dream, especially in the dark. There also appears to be something similar going on at the southwest corner of 6th & Columbia, nearest the former church. Again, it's a large thick patch of ice that has does not appear to have a source of water from above. Cones and tape were surrounding it when I saw that one early yesterday afternoon. If what a Gossips commenter who lives near the now vacant lot on the Boulevards said recently -- that the demolition of the building(s) was shaking his house -- could all that earth rattling have busted an old (possibly ancient) water main directly under or adjacent to the site? Of course it could have, but we'll never know, will we? Taxpayers will pay to repair it. How much will that cost us? Fixing water main breaks in temperatures near zero Fahrenheit is not for the weak. It's slow, muddy, messy, and wet work in the spring summer and fall, but I can't imagine what it's like right now to be 8 or 10 feet below the surface of the street trying to find a break in an old pipe and then repairing it while trying not to get too wet. What kind of gloves would one even wear to keep from being frostbitten and possibly losing a few fingers?
I biked past that one last night before anyone at City Hall (DPW) had responded to it. There was a huge sheet of thick ice at the corner, mostly on Parkwood and in the Fairview shoulder -- a bicyclist's dream, especially in the dark.
ReplyDeleteThere also appears to be something similar going on at the southwest corner of 6th & Columbia, nearest the former church. Again, it's a large thick patch of ice that has does not appear to have a source of water from above. Cones and tape were surrounding it when I saw that one early yesterday afternoon.
If what a Gossips commenter who lives near the now vacant lot on the Boulevards said recently -- that the demolition of the building(s) was shaking his house -- could all that earth rattling have busted an old (possibly ancient) water main directly under or adjacent to the site? Of course it could have, but we'll never know, will we? Taxpayers will pay to repair it. How much will that cost us?
Fixing water main breaks in temperatures near zero Fahrenheit is not for the weak. It's slow, muddy, messy, and wet work in the spring summer and fall, but I can't imagine what it's like right now to be 8 or 10 feet below the surface of the street trying to find a break in an old pipe and then repairing it while trying not to get too wet. What kind of gloves would one even wear to keep from being frostbitten and possibly losing a few fingers?