A secondary round of repairs is coming this week after a water main break near the heart of downtown Friday, although Sunday’s blizzard has adjusted the timetable for repairs.
Underground Utilities Supervisor Mike Dvorak says an 8-inch line failed on Merchant Street under the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad tracks. Crews had dig holes on both sides of the tracks to get to the failure point. They also had to shut down water service about four blocks in all directions, with Underground Utilities shutting off water from Second north to Sixth and from Constitution east to Commercial.
With the failure developing overnight, it took until after sunrise to discover the problem and until early afternoon to have initial repairs done to the point where water could be turned back on again.
Traffic was blocked for much of Friday but was able to get past the two pavement cutouts this weekend. Originally, the plan was to start work Monday but now it appears it could start Tuesday, depending on when snow and ice can clear Merchant Street.
Dvorak says there is a chance the city may have to re-bore under the crossing at some point in the future.
