The city of Emporia is apparently into another spate of water main breaks — and this round deals with the city’s main transmission line in northwest Emporia.
Since Monday night, the city has noted water main breaks near the intersections of Prairie Street and Prairie Lane, Flint and Maplecrest and 22nd and Flint — with the last two happening Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. City Manager Trey Cocking, a guest on KVOE’s Morning Show both Tuesday and Wednesday, says significant water hammer may well have played a role in the Monday night incident and may well have cascaded into the breaks noted early Wednesday. He says the city has basically deactivated the 20-inch line in question until further notice.
The transmission line was installed in the 1920s. Issues have been increasing since a major line failure near 15th and Prairie in 2017.
In fact, the breaks reported Wednesday morning are near a segment of line that failed in September, shortly after the East 12th Avenue water tower rehab project began. The same neighborhood experienced rapid basement flooding exactly a year ago when the pipe failed.
5:15 am Wednesday: 20-inch water main fails on Flint near Maplecrest
Underground Utility crew members are making repairs to a broken water main in northwest Emporia early Wednesday.
Crews were called to 18th and Maplecrest shortly before 3:30 am, but the issues on the 20-inch transmission line were actually noted on Flint near Maplecrest. This is near a segment of line that failed in September, shortly after the East 12th Avenue water tower rehab project began. The same neighborhood experienced rapid basement flooding exactly a year ago when the pipe failed.
Wednesday’s water main issue caused a hole to develop in the pavement on Flint near Maplecrest.
