ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, July 9, 1996 TAG: 9607090074
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JON CAWLEY STAFF WRITER
A water main break Monday on Franklin Road in Roanoke caused a cave-in, closing both northbound lanes in a one-block area.
The water main ruptured in the early afternoon, flooding the northbound lanes between Wonju and McClanahan streets, said Wally Curtiss, communications supervisor on duty for the city.
The blacktop is 1 foot thick and still can carry traffic with the water running underneath. Once workers turned the water off, the blacktop dropped about 4 feet, said Calvin Dame, utilities line supervisor for the city of Roanoke.
"There is no way of telling what breaks a line; these pipes are old so it could be age. It's just like a chain with a weak link; that's what's going to go," Dame said.
The break damaged 800 to 1,000 square feet of pavement, Dame said.
"It is not unusual for a water main to break; we average one a day," said Kit Kiser, director of utilities and operations for the city. "As water gets warmer [a pipe] expands and then contracts as water becomes colder, putting pressure and metal fatigue on the pipes. Something has to give. In this case, it was a 12-inch cast-iron pipe."
It is possible that 100 to 1,000 people lost water for about an hour or so, Kiser said.
"While water is running out [of the pipe], you lose a lot of water; the first affected are the highest elevations," Kiser said.
"It's like when you pull the plug in a bathtub," he said. The water level drops from the top of the tub first.
Dame expected to have the water main fixed by 9 p.m. Monday. However, the entire overhaul, including replacing the blacktop, could take another 16 hours.
Whether any lanes are open this morning will depend on when the city can get out the blacktop crew.
A detour has not been established, Curtiss said.
And if the traffic headache on Franklin Road wasn't enough, another large water main broke Monday night in the city, closing one block of Westside Boulevard between Van Buren Street and Tyler Avenue.
The main broke around 8:22 p.m., shutting off water on Westside, Van Buren, Tyler, Polk Avenue and Barnett Road, as well as affecting some residents in Northwest Roanoke County, Curtiss said.
The city hoped to have the main repaired before rush hour this morning. Most water main breaks take five to 10 hours or less to fix if no complications are encountered, Curtiss said.
LENGTH: Medium: 53 linesby CNB