Water main rupture forces street closing
CITY OF MARYVILLE PHOTO
City water and wastewater Superintendent Eric Lance looks on as water gushes out of a ruptured pipe Friday night at the intersection of East First and Vine streets. The broken pipe has forced closure of the intersection, and means about 25 residences in the immediate neighborhood will remain under a boil advisory through at least Tuesday.
A water main rupture at the intersection of East First and Vine streets, one of the main eastbound entryways into downtown Maryville, has forced the city to close the four-way junction at least through Monday and possibly for a week or more.
The break was discovered shortly before 8 p.m. Friday, and Maryville Public Safety officers, in addition to Maryville City Manager Greg McDanel and Public Works Director C.E. Goodall, arrived on the scene shortly thereafter.
Water gushing from the underground pipe was forced to the surface and broke through pavement in at least four places, possibly undermining the street.
City workers quickly set up signs and barricades blocking off the intersection and directing motorists to use Third Street as a detour.
Goodall said a maintenance crew led by water and wastewater Superintendent Eric Lance drilled through the asphalt in order to determine the precise location of the leak and then started digging. The repair effort was completed around 2:30 a.m. Saturday.
City crewmen assisting Lance included Greg Nielsen and Eric Hersh.
Once they reached the broken pipe, workers discovered a split about three feet long. Typically when a water line breaks, it is repaired with a metal clamp. However, the largest clamp the city has extends only about 30 inches.
That meant that the section of broken pipe had to be cut out and replaced.
The new pipe was thoroughly washed and sanitized with chlorine, but water moving through the patched line still won’t be considered safe until samples can be tested in a laboratory.
Since the lab used by the city is closed on the weekend, Goodall said about 25 residences in the immediate area were placed under a boil advisory that will continue through at least Tuesday. Affected residents were notified and homes tagged with doorknob hangers.
Public Works has been busy lately when it comes to water lines, and Goodall said Friday’s leak was the fourth in about 10 days.
Just what is causing the pipes to break is something of a mystery after this year’s mild winter, since the usual culprit in such instances is soil movement caused by repeated freezing and thawing.
After speaking with Lance, Goodall said his best guess is that some older pipes, buried beneath Maryville streets for decades, are simply wearing out.
“Eric told me that what he is seeing is some really old pipe in the ground,” Goodall said. “That’s all we can come up with right now.”
He added that Lance’s long experience and almost uncanny sense of exactly where a leaking pipe is broken allowed workers to isolate Friday night’s leak quickly and effect repairs in fairly short order.
“We’re really lucky to have someone like that working for the city,” Goodall said. “He’s a great asset to have when we have these things out there.”
As for reopening the intersection, Goodall said that won’t happen until it can be determined if the street’s structural integrity remains intact.
Technically First Street is state Highway 46, which means the road itself — but not the infrastructure beneath it — is the responsibility of the Missouri Department of Transportation.
Goodall said MoDOT staffers are scheduled to inspect the intersection Monday, after which a decision will be made about what kind of repairs are needed and how long the street will remain closed.
If the subsurface is still stable, he said, it is likely the damaged section of street can be milled and repaved without too much delay.
Keller Construction crews are scheduled to arrive in Maryville in a few days to begin the city’s annual round of asphalt street overlays. Goodall said he is hopeful the company can simply add East First and Vine to its existing list of projects.
