Residents and businesses near the site of a significant water main failure Saturday have their water running again.
Public Works Director Frank Abart says there have been no issues reported after Underground Utilities crew members began turning the water on along 12th from Chestnut to Grand around 5 pm. The 16-inch line failed on 12th between Lincoln and Garfield before 3 am, rupturing 12th in several spots near the failure site.
Making matters worse was the failure of two valves designed to shut off the water flow in the case of such an incident. Failures at the 12th and Lincoln intersection and along 12th near Newman Regional Health’s official emergency room entrance on the east side of the hospital both forced crews to fan out across the neighborhood to find working valves and increased the time needed to shut down the water. In the meantime, Abart said several hundred thousand gallons of water were lost. This lowered water pressure across Emporia for several hours.
Meanwhile, Underground Utilities workers had to handle a 6-inch water main failure on West Ridge. That situation was resolved relatively quickly.
4 pm Saturday: Water coming back online on West 12th and West Ridge after separate failures
Emporia Public Works Director Frank Abart expects water service will return to normal by early evening for folks affected by a 16-inch line break well before sunrise Saturday morning.
As part of an interview that aired on KVOE’s 12:10 pm newscast Saturday, Abart said the line was isolated and excavated before noon. The line failed before 2:30 am and wasn’t totally shut off until well after 8 am. Abart tells KVOE News the system lost “several hundred thousands of gallons of water” before the situation was contained. All of that came from the city storage tank near the Burlingame Road exit on Interstate 35, meaning low water pressure across town.
A major contributing factor was the status of nearby valves. Two valves, one at 12th and Lincoln and one further east near the Newman Regional Health east exit, both failed as well.
Numerous homes have been without water in the neighborhood. Several nearby businesses were also offline, including Emporia Place, Haag Pharmacy, Kenyon Square Apartments and KVOE. Newman Regional Health, St. Marks Lutheran Church and Angels Home Health Care have not confirmed whether they lost water service.
Abart says there is a definite concern about an undermining of the subgrade below the street pavement as a result of Saturday’s water issues. Abart says there should be access to affected businesses and St Marks Lutheran Church, but that may be all the allowed traffic until Monday.
The good news, according to Abart, is a boil water advisory or order should not be needed. Abart says the city “met all health requirements,” so at this time there will not be a repeat of the boil order following a 20-inch line failure at 15th and Prairie almost exactly a year ago.
A second break developed on West Ridge on Saturday morning. Abart says a 6-inch line failed there. That has since been fixed.
The situation on West 12th comes after several significant water main breaks on 12th from Prairie Street to the east over the last month, including:
*Sunnyslope Street on June 20
*Garfield Street on July 11
*Grand Street on July 12
It also comes as the City Engineering Office plans to make service line connections for the scheduled work on a 20-inch line that has been underway for more than a month between Prairie and Grand. Residents along that stretch of 12th will have service interrupted Monday as those connections are made. Later, the 12th and Prairie intersection could reopen to traffic by early August and the affected street could fully reopen by early September.
4-8 am Saturday: Water main ruptures on 12th near Lincoln; multiple reports of low pressure across town
The general water main construction zone on West 12th is, unfortunately, getting larger.
A 16-inch main failed on 12th near Lincoln Street early Saturday morning, with city crews alerted to the situation around 2:30 am. Much like Tuesday’s failure on Prairie Street near 15th Avenue, water had pushed up to the surface and ruptured the pavement in several areas near the actual breakage point.
Underground Utilities crews have been on site doing initial work to shut off the pipe before starting excavation. There is no official word on the area affected, but the KVOE studios have been without water Saturday morning.
Elsewhere in Emporia, KVOE listeners reported low water pressure near South and Merchant, Sixth and Exchange and Lakeview near Dillons between 6 am and 7:30 am. The city is investigating. Public Works Director Frank Abart tells KVOE News a valve failed at 12th and Lincoln, so water flow continues both above and below ground. City crews are now fanning out near the area to find a valve or series of valves that will shut down the water flow so excavation can begin in earnest.
The failure comes as the city of Emporia continues a replacement project further west on 12th. Crews started replacing a 20-inch main on 12th from Prairie to Grand. However, the existing line failed at Sunnyslope on June 20, and as the new line continued to be installed to the east, existing pipe failed at 12th and Garfield on July 11. The line also failed at 12th near Grand on July 12.
The city of Emporia has not said whether it has made arrangements to repair 12th and Garfield as part of the original replacement project or whether that has to be a stand-alone project.
As far as that original project goes, the City Engineering Office says residents along 12th from Prairie to Grand will have their service interrupted Monday — but only because a contractor is making connections to the new 20-inch main. That work should be done by the end of the day.
Pavement restoration work also will begin at the 12th and Prairie intersection. Barring any other water main failures nearby, the intersection could open to traffic by the first week of August. The remainder of 12th Ave. from Prairie to Grand is expected to be open to traffic by the first week of September, weather permitting.
Photos by Chuck Samples/KVOE News
{gallery}Water Main Break July 21 2018{/gallery}
