Evening rush hour 'looking good': Officials give update as crews work to repair ruptured Boston water main
Repair work continues Thursday after a water main broke, sending large amounts of water rushing through Boston streets.The incident happened Tuesday near the border of the Roxbury and Jamaica Plain neighborhoods, at Columbus Avenue and the intersection of Centre and Richie streets. Initially, officials thought the problem was the 36-inch-wide transmission main, but the pipe that ruptured, according to Boston Water and Sewer Chief Engineer John Sullivan, was a 12-inch main, which was being fed water by a 36-inch-long transmission line next to it.”The mains have all been repaired and turned back on. Right now, we’re backfilling patching. There will be a temporary paver today and maybe over the weekend. After midnight, we’ll come back and do the permanent pave. But it’s all good news. The one building that lost water has water restored,” said Stephen Mulloney, of the Boston Water and Sewer Commission.The 12-inch pipe’s proximity to the 36-inch main “complicated matters in many ways,” Mulloney said.”I would say rush hour this evening is looking good,” he said. Traffic is down to one lane in each direction on a section of Columbus Avenue. On Tuesday, built-up trash on the streets caused nearby drains to clog and prevented water from effectively draining. Water from the break seeped into nearby buildings, causing owners to place sandbags near doorways in fear of flooding.
Repair work continues Thursday after a water main broke, sending large amounts of water rushing through Boston streets.
The incident happened Tuesday near the border of the Roxbury and Jamaica Plain neighborhoods, at Columbus Avenue and the intersection of Centre and Richie streets.
Initially, officials thought the problem was the 36-inch-wide transmission main, but the pipe that ruptured, according to Boston Water and Sewer Chief Engineer John Sullivan, was a 12-inch main, which was being fed water by a 36-inch long transmission line next to it.
The transmission line needs to be turned off in order to stop the water from flowing.
“It was dispensing an enormous amount of water, about 15,000 gallons of water a minute, which is extremely high and very unusual for one of those 12-inch mains that typically feed a neighborhood,” Sullivan said.
The 36-inch main is unscathed, but BWSC will run a water pressure test to confirm before paving the road. The impact is only to the 12-inch main means that repair work could go by faster.
Crews say they are unsure exactly how long repairs could take.
“There’s going to be a little more pressure testing that’s going on, just to see what’s needed. Is there a clamp or other piece of work that needs to be done? So we’re going to keep looking at the 36. The 36 is not out of the woods yet, so to speak,” said Stephen Mulloney, of the Boston Water and Sewer Commission.
Traffic is down to one lane in each direction on a section of Columbus Avenue.
On Tuesday, built-up trash on the streets caused nearby drains to clog and prevented water from effectively draining.
Water from the break seeped into nearby buildings, causing owners to place sandbags near doorways in fear of flooding.