Waterline repair to cost 100,000

Some customers were without water for an hour or two when the line first broke.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A break in one of the city's two largest waterlines resulted in the loss of millions of gallons of water and will cost the city about 100,000 to repair.
Water department employees were searching Wednesday for a potential leak to the 36-inch water pipe on Marshall Street on the lower West Side when the top of an elbow joint separated from the pipe.
"Something major happened," said Joseph Dunlap, the water department's superintendent of construction. "I can't say it was the digging that caused the break, and I can't say it wasn't the digging. We won't know until we get to the line."
The line broke about 1:40 p.m. Wednesday, flooding Marshall Street behind the Youngstown Maennerchor building that fronts Mahoning Avenue. There are three other waterlines in that area.
About 4 million to 6 million gallons of water was lost, said Water Commissioner John Casciano. That amount could increase, he said.
The city and the Mahoning Valley Sanitary District, which sells water in bulk to the city, had trouble turning off water valves to the pipe, said Eugene Leson Jr., the city water department's chief engineer. Water was still leaking from the broken pipe Thursday, but the amount wasn't as much as Wednesday, he said.
Even with the loss of millions of gallons, Casciano said the city would have to pay only about 5,000 to the MVSD for the water.
Here's the location
The elbow joint, installed sometime in the 1950s or 1960s, has concrete blocks around it to keep it in place, Leson said.
"It's possible [the concrete] eroded or was poured incorrectly," he said.
The elbow joint is located about 2,000 feet from where the MVSD's 42-inch waterline connects to the city's 36-inch line, Leson said. It is one of two 36-inch waterlines in the city. Those two 36-inch lines are the largest in Youngstown.
The one with the broken elbow joint provides water to the lower West Side, the lower South Side and downtown, Casciano said.
"It's one of the worst possible locations for a break," Leson said. "We don't know the extent of the damage, but it's pretty extensive."
Marucci & amp; Gaffney Excavating Inc., a Youngstown company, is expected to start repair work today or Saturday, Leson said. Neither the amount of damage to the pipe nor how long it will take to repair it is known, Leson said, but the cost will be close to 100,000.
Some water customers were without water for an hour or two after the line broke, but service was restored quickly, Casciano said.
There are some tall buildings in the city's downtown, including Sky Bank on Wick Avenue, that have water on their ground floor, but not on the upper levels, he said. That's because the break caused a drop in water pressure, he said.
Marshall Street between Hogue, where Marucci & amp; Gaffney's office is located, and Edwards streets, and West Avenue between Marshall Street and Mahoning Avenue will remain closed until the pipe is repaired.
Pavement damaged
The pavement on West between Marshall and Mahoning has extensive damage and there may be damage to Mahoning, said Carmen S. Conglose Jr., deputy director of the city's public works department. Because he can't get to West, Conglose didn't know how much the repairs would cost.
Mahoning Avenue, one of the main roads connecting the city's West Side to downtown, is open even though there is water and ice on its south side. Because it is well-traveled, the city had no choice but to keep it open, Leson said.
"We're monitoring [Mahoning] continuously to make sure it's safe," Conglose said. "We're salting it to make sure the water doesn't freeze."
Comfort Keepers, a Mahoning Avenue business that provides nonmedical in-home care, had water damage to its building and equipment because of the break. It is believed to be the only building that received water damage from the broken line.
The city doesn't have a written policy on paying water damage claims, said Law Director Iris Torres Guglucello. A business would need to file a claim against the city, and the city's insurance company, HCC Insurance Holdings Inc. of Houston, would determine if the claim were valid, she said.
"The business would have to show the city was negligent in maintaining waterlines or caused the break," Guglucello said.
Also, the settlement of claims in cases such as this is "not a quick process," she said.
The line that broke was installed in the 1950s or 1960s and has held up well until Wednesday, Leson said. "We never had a problem," he said.
The city has spent about 12 million to 15 million over the past decade to replace water pipes, Casciano said. The pipes replaced are much older than the one on Marshall, and are ones that break the most, he said.
skolnick@vindy.com