Water Main Breaks Gusher

[Howard]

"All the land between New England and Mexico is being pulled at a diagonal, and it is not just the fault lines that are feeling stress. All will participate when the New Madrid Fault

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania - "Super Sinkhole Walter" and 40 Others 

Malibu, California - Recurring Water Main Breaks

Grand Rapids, Michigan - Big Hole / Deep Water 

[Howard]

Water Main Break Floods Streets in St. Paul Minnesota (Feb 9)
A 20-inch water main ruptured in downtown St. Paul late Friday, sending an estimated 1.75 million gallons of water coursing through the streets of Lowertown, disrupting service and prompting the city to test the area's tap water.

The break occurred around midnight on Wall Street, between Fifth and Sixth streets, with water cascading down Wall and Broadway streets toward Kellogg Boulevard for two hours.

For nearly 12 hours after the break, the city advised residents in affected areas not to drink the tap water until testing was completed.

On Saturday afternoon, production distribution manager Jim Graupmann said crews had a chance to inspect the pipe and were attempting to determine the cause.

"We may not know, ever, but we'll take a look and see," he said.

The pipe dates back to 1952, Graupmann said, but added that isn't older than average for the system. The last time he recalled a break of this magnitude was in 1991.

A large swath of St. Paul had its water service affected by the break. The exact number of affected customers is unknown, but homes and businesses east of Interstate 35E, west of U.S. 52, south of University Avenue and north of the bluff line experienced water supply and pressure issues, according to Graupmann.

That area includes St. Paul's Lower West Side, Downtown and Lower West 7th neighborhoods.

Source

http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_22555002/st-paul-broken-wate...

[Howard]

Widespread Broken Water Lines Prompts State of Emergency in Arizona (Feb 7)

2,000 families are without running water due to widespread water outages that have plagued several northeastern Arizona counties and provoked emergency orders by Arizona's governor and the Navajo Nation's president.

A total of 1,729 water outages from a severely damaged water system consisting of concrete and clay pipes has been confirmed by the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA).

"In all my years I've never seen anything like this," said Erny Zah, spokesman for the Navajo Nation's president and vice president. "People are starting to get an idea of how serious this is."

Sources

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2013/02/07/Emergency-declared-in-Nav...

http://thenavajopost.com/2013/02/08/there-are-1729-water-outages-ac...

[Howard]

Further indications of a tearing St. Lawrence Seaway.

Two Large Sinkholes Result from Toronto Water Main Break (Jan 30)

One of two large sinkholes that opened up on Glenwood Crescent, in the St. Clair Avenue and O'Connor Drive area, on Jan. 30, 2013.

A water main break continues to cause big problems in East York, near the St. Clair Avenue East and O’Connor Drive area, Thursday morning.

The leak that started Wednesday afternoon caused two massive sinkholes to open up on Glenwood Crescent.

A resident of Glenwood Cres. called police at 2:50 p.m. after spotting two sinkholes and a depression in the pavement. Water was seen spurting from the holes.

Sgt. Gary Woods attended the scene and estimated the largest hole to be about 3.5 metres by 2.5 metres. Subsequent media reports suggest the hole had lengthened to about 7.5 metres.

Nearby residents struggled to make do without water on Wednesday night.

“Looks like we’re going to have microwaved leftovers tonight,” said Sarah Fairweather, who lives across from one of the sinkholes.

No one informed Fairweather as to when the water would be back.

“The main issue is the use of toilets and washing in the morning,” she said.

Sources

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/01/30/sinkholes_on_east_york_s...

http://www.680news.com/2013/01/31/road-crews-dealing-with-major-sin...

[Howard]

Update on the historic water main breaks in Montreal:

"The urban tsunami that gushed through parts of McGill University on Monday and Tuesday has left the downtown campus in a state of turmoil and disrepair.

Twelve buildings were affected, 80 classes cancelled, 10 laboratories relocated, 24 classes relocated and thousands of students and staff uprooted after a broken water main on Monday afternoon sent water pouring down the hills of the McGill campus.

As city officials struggled to find the cause of the water main break on Tuesday, many on the McGill campus said this was the worst flood they had seen. McTavish St. turned into a raging river and brought YouTube notoriety to a young woman who ventured to cross it, finally succumbing to the current and sliding all the way down the street.

Michael Di Grappa, vice-principal of administration and finance for McGill, said it’s not yet known if the city of Montreal will be responsible for the damages, which he estimated as being in the “hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

What is known is that the repairs will be on top of McGill’s growing deferred maintenance needs, now estimated at about $650 million.

“To have a flood further damaging our buildings is really not good,” said Jonathan Mooney, president of the Post Graduate Students’ Society. “This really puts us in a bad position.”

It could be weeks, or even months, until everything on campus can be fixed, replaced or dried out. Making sure mould doesn’t develop will be a top priority, Di Grappa said.

Ron Proulx, executive director of facilities, operations and development, showed reporters around the James Building annex — one of the most damaged sites — where a strong odour of dampness rose from soaked office furniture and equipment. A few inches of water still covered the floor on Tuesday afternoon.

“The water broke a back window like a tsunami,” Proulx said, adding that all computer equipment and much of the furniture in the annex would have to be replaced.

Most affected were the Wong Building for chemical engineering, which probably will be closed for at least a week. Also, the James Administration Building, the Service Point, the Welcome Centre, the Birks Building and Wilson Hall were closed on Tuesday.

“We’re working very hard to make sure that we can resume normal activity as soon as possible, but it’s very difficult,” Di Grappa said. “Other buildings will remain closed probably for the rest of the week and some of the spaces won’t be able to be occupied for longer than that. It could be, in at least one case, several months before we can relocate.”

And there were some damages you couldn’t really put a price tag on. For example, this week is the Student Society of McGill University festival — SSMU Fest — and Monday night was to have been Winter Activities Night. Although it was rescheduled for Tuesday, SSMU president Josh Redel said it was very disappointing, especially with freezing rain forecast for Tuesday night.

“This involves 150 groups, thousands of students and weeks of coordination,” Redel said. If nothing else, the flood had certainly dampened spirits on campus.

“This is way worse than any flood we’ve seen before,” Redel said. “It’s a real issue because the damage is pretty extensive. And even trying to reschedule cancelled classes can be a huge pain because there’s no flexibility on the course schedule.”

The campus was awash in stories about wading through the frigid, rushing water that overtook the campus late Monday afternoon. Arts student Hilary Angrove sloshed through knee-high water when she left the Bronfman Building to try to get home.

Then there were the salvage efforts. For example, students were asked to help move equipment and computers to higher levels when it became apparent the flood wasn’t going to end quickly.

McGill’s archives had about 300 wet boxes, and a disaster response plan was quickly implemented. Documents are dried and then frozen to prevent mould, but Theresa Rowat, director and university archivist, said nothing rare was involved and everything was expected to recover.

Amar Sabih, associate director of mechanical engineering, oversaw perhaps the most ambitious and innovative rescue plan on campus — the building of a makeshift dam near the McConnell Engineering Building to try to divert water from important lower level labs and research information. He and a group of students worked for three hours in the biting cold to construct a dam out of bags filled with snow, wood, trash cans and anything else they could find lying around.

“These were really smart, brave students who didn’t leave the ship to sink,” Sabih said. “They prevented water from pouring into a basement with $1 million worth of equipment in just one lab. It might have been a disaster if not for that dam.”

The flood also came as McGill was scrambling to try to cut $19 million from its budget in the next few months, in response to $124 million in cuts made by the Quebec government in December. These cuts have been a painful exercise for all universities, coming unexpectedly and so late in the fiscal year. In fact, McGill principal Heather Munroe-Blum was to meet with all the heads of the university’s unions on Tuesday morning to discuss the dire financial situation, but the meeting was postponed because of the flood.

“It was really a historic meeting to be summoned by the principal like that,” said Lilian Radovac, president of McGill’s teaching union.

Surveying the wet, crippled campus, Di Grappa summed up the situation: “This wasn’t a good start to the new year.”

Sources

http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Floods+come+time+McGill/7890042...

[Howard]

Another Major Water Main Break in Montreal (Jan 29)

The city’s big-water-main problems escalated Tuesday morning.

Water flooding downhill along the eastern flank of the downtown McGill University campus isn’t coming from the broken 48-inch-diameter main that channelled torrents of water into the downtown core Monday afternoon — but has instead sprung from a second significant leak, a city official said.

This breached pipe is bigger — although the extent of the fracture appears smaller.

The fresh leak appears to be gushing from a 54-inch-diameter main also linked with the McTavish Reservoir, central-city spokesperson Jacques-Alain Lavallée added.

At 9 a.m., water was still running on campus, ankle-deep.

A makeshift dam — cobbled together using snow, recycling bins and several sheets of plywood — was diverting some of the flow from near the north entrance of the MacConnell Engineering Building to municipal storm sewers near the corner of University and Milton Sts.

The second leak, Lavallée said, appears to originate under or near University St., south of Pine Ave. W.

“What my colleagues have told me is that some dams were installed on University, stone dams, in order to make sure the (second) leak was contained between Sherbrooke (St. W.) and Pine Ave.,” Lavallée responded when asked why ample surface water was still flowing on McGill’s campus.

Water from the second main was also streaming directly down University St.

The immense flow from the first broken pipe had swept into the city core late Monday afternoon; it was stemmed early Monday evening.

“We will start to excavate this morning” under University, Lavallée added, “probably finding out what caused all this.”

Volume from that second leak displayed considerably less ferocity than the torrent unleashed into the downtown core Monday afternoon, he specified:

“The quantity ... is not as significant as it was yesterday.”

“Until there’s a proper excavation,” Lavallée added, “I cannot confirm exactly what caused all this.”

Many of the pipes in the area date from 1924, he said.

The leaks have both sprung while $16.4 million in work was underway to repair McTavish Reservoir conduits. “No one lost water service” as a result of the problems, Lavallée said.

The McTavish Reservoir provides potable water for about 500,000 Montreal residents.

Asked to confirm that two of the four major McTavish conduits now appear to have been compromised, Lavallée responded: “I would say so. But the main source of what happened yesterday is the 48-inch” main.

Overnight, Lavallée said, “our top priority was to ensure that no one would get injured. That’s why our blue-collars have spread abrasives and salt all night long.”

Lavallée said he was not aware of any reports of injuries.

Meanwhile, Wilson Hall and the Birks Building on the downtown McGill University campus have been shut Tuesday as a result of Monday afternoon’s flooding, “and classes in those buildings are cancelled this morning,” the school said.

As well, the FACE School on University St. has also been shut for the day, “due to flooding in area,” the English Montreal School Board announced.

“Cleanup crews have worked all night,” McGill said in an update on its website.

“Classes are being relocated from the Wong Building, and physics labs are cancelled in Wong today.

“Finally, the James Administration Building is closed until noon as cleanup on the first and second floors continues.”

“Please avoid the Milton Gate,” at the corner of University St., the McGill statement advised.

“This area ... continues to be flooded. Please access the lower campus from the Roddick Gates or the MacTavish St. entrance.”

“The north entrance to the McConnell Engineering Building is closed, except for emergencies.”

Sources

http://www.montrealgazette.com/Flash+flood+downtown+Second+water+ma...

http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/major-flooding-submerges-downtown-montre...

[Howard]

Large Water Main Break Causes Severe Flooding in Downtown Montreal (Jan 28)

Student swept away at McGill University

A break in a 48-inch water main has affected a large area of downtown Montreal between Sherbrooke Street and Réné-Levesque Boulevard, and between Peel Street and Union Avenue.

Officials are still trying to figure out what caused the break.

Much of the flooding happened close to McGill University's downtown campus.

A note sent to employees at McGill warned of "severe flooding" on the campus and inside several buildings.

"We are trying to assess damage as best we can, but it will be extensive," the note stated, warning employees to get to safety.

Source

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2013/01/28/montreal-fl...

[Howard]

North Carolina Sinkhole Collapses Side of Roadway (Jan 21)
A water main break on Tyvola Centre Drive Monday morning caused a giant sinkhole that swallowed a car, sidewalk and even a tree. It was the last thing Brian Yurkovic thought would happen when he went to take out the trash.

"I was coming down the road, and I hit a big bump," said Yukovic.

That bump turned out to be a sinkhole that caved the moment his car passed over it.

Eyewitness News learned it was caused by a water main break. It emptied the ground above it and not only took out the streetlight but also the sidewalk, a tree, the surrounding grass and half of the road.

Yurkovic was left with two flat tires. He said that's when he got out of his car to warn others.

"I turned around, started waving to slow her down, and right into the hole she went," he said.

The driver's red Hyundai got stuck half on the road and half in the hole. The Charlotte Mecklenburg Utilities Department was called to fix it but couldn't until both cars were towed. It took the wrecker about an hour to load both cars and lift the Hyundai out of the hole. In the meantime, CMUD shut off the water to the entire area, including the nearby apartment complex.

"I just woke up this morning, went into the bathroom and saw there was no water," said resident Subrakash Bhowmik

It made some people so late for work, they had to call out.

"I think we'll have to take a vacation day today," said Aruba Paul.

None of the drivers were hurt. Residents were told it would take four to six hours to fix.

CMUD says water main breaks happen every day. Eyewitness News has reported about the city's aging water main structure for years. With more than 4,000 miles of pipe, the city says it'd be too costly to replace. Its policy is to fix them as they break.

Source

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/news/local/car-drives-sinkhole-south-cha...

[Howard]

Water Main Snaps in Shreveport, Louisiana (Jan 11)

A 10 to 12-inch water pipe broke in half causing a large sinkhole to form Friday night in Shreveport's Broadmoor neighborhood.

The sinkhole developed at the corner of Grover Place and India Drive.

Crews set up a barricade to keep vehicles from driving into the large hole until repairs can be made.

Source

http://www.ksla.com/story/20572647/sinkhole-develops-on-broadmoor-n...

[Howard]

Major Water Main Break in Council Bluffs, Iowa (Jan 9)

(video) Not far from Omaha, Nebraska, a major water-main break at the corner of Ninth Street and Avenue E not only took out a chunk of concrete that stretched across the street, but it's also forced Council Bluffs area residents to go into a boil alert for their water -- which has sent many people to area grocery stores and forced a handful of restaurants to close their doors Wednesday.