THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 1, 1997 TAG: 9702010701
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 34 lines
A stretch of Wesleyan Drive that had been closed to traffic for more than a day reopened about 5 p.m. Friday after crews cleaned up from two water-main breaks.
Public utility workers patched up a second hole in the 24-inch main at Wesleyan Drive and Baker Road about 4 a.m. Friday and spent the rest of the day paving over a gaping hole left by the leaks.
Wesleyan Drive between Baker Road and Northampton Boulevard had been closed to traffic since about 3 p.m. Thursday, when a contractor's work accidentally caused the breaks.
Traffic was rerouted through Diamond Springs Road from Northampton Boulevard.
City crews had fixed one hole late Thursday, then discovered the second just before midnight when they turned on the water flow, said Jim Plaatsman, an engineer for the operation and maintenance division of the Public Utilities Department.
A second repair job had to be undertaken, which took to about 4 a.m. Friday, he said.
Work crews spent the rest of the day filling the hole with dirt, compacting it and paving over the damaged roadway.
The water main apparently was punctured by a contractor installing cable along Baker Road, Plaatsman said.
A mechanical borer used by the contractor accidentally drilled two holes in the main line.
Wesleyan Drive is a secondary street heavily used by commuters as an east-west shortcut from Northampton Boulevard to Newtown Road and Haygood Drive.