Castleton water main fixed
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Construction crews repair the water main on Main Street, Castleton Saturday. Tom Mitchell/Rutland Herald |
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By Tom Mitchell Herald Staff - Published: January 5, 2009
CASTLETON — A construction crew replaced a leaky valve in the old water main on Main Street over the weekend, cutting off water at Birdseye Diner, some homes and two other businesses Saturday afternoon for a few hours.
Castleton Fire District 1 restored water for up to 20 homes and business just after 6 p.m. Saturday after replacing a 90-year-old rusted valve and section of water line at Seminary Street intersection, officials said Saturday.
"It (water) was bubbling out the ground," when the leak was found some weeks ago, officials said. As a result of the break, the water had iced over parts of the main entrance to Castleton State College at the end of Seminary Street where two homes had water service interrupted, First Constable Silas Loomis said.
Fire District 1 gave Birdseye Diner enough time Saturday to get ready for the loss in water service, Joseph Williams, a spokesman at the diner, said Sunday.
"We had plenty of time to set water aside," he said.
A hair salon and Riley Agency on Main Street also had its water service interrupted by the repair, officials said.
The leak from a valve in the old water in front of the Episcopal Church was not so severe that it sent huge amounts of water onto Main Street, Terrence Riley, chairman of Fire District 1, said Sunday.
"The valve has been leaking for some time," Riley said. However any break or a limited leak, like this one, is considered serious and the district wanted to get to it as quickly as possible, he said.
Repairs were delayed in part by cold weather, as well as new construction on the new waterline along Main Street, near the same Seminary Street intersection, Riley said.
"We always wanted to do the repair, but we didn't want to interfere with the construction going on" for the new water line, Riley said.
The fire district waited until Munson Earth Moving finished construction on a new line in that same area before gearing up for the phased repair to the old line, he said.
The newly installed section of water main at the Seminary Street hasn't yet been hooked up to the system, Riley said.
Doing the repairs on the old main in phases, the crew initially dug up the asphalt before being able to get at and replace the bad valve and piping in the old 8-inch line, officials said.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, the fire district crew gave the diner staff additional time they asked for to be ready for loss of water service, said Riley, who was at the diner for lunch early Saturday afternoon.
Richard Hall, operator of the water system, arranged to isolate and temporarily control the leak by shutting off valves around the shutoff and pipe in front of St. Mark's Episcopal Church, according to Loomis, who was on scene to guide traffic.
As darkness closed in Saturday, the crew and 312C Caterpillar excavator worked under spotlights.
The leaky valve hasn't been the only problem at the strategic Seminary Street location, Riley said. When Munson was working on the new line, the contractor apparently had put in a drainage manhole a little too high, Riley said.
Then a town snowplow, operating on the street, damaged its wing when it struck the top of the manhole, he said. "They (Munson) came back and repaired it … (lowered it), so it wouldn't happen again," Riley said.
Contact Tom Mitchell at tom.mitchell@rutlandherald.com.
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