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Gas crews continue pipe work
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WORK ZONE: Crews from Dominion East Ohio are replacing a 16-inch high-pressure steel gas main that ruptured under Midlothian Boulevard, causing an explosion. It left an 8-foot-deep and 16-foot-wide crater in the eastbound curb lane of Midlothian at the Interstate 680 interchange.
It will take about two days before a section of Midlothian Boulevard is reopened.
STAFF REPORT
YOUNGSTOWN — Crews from Dominion East Ohio will continue work today replacing a 16-inch high-pressure steel gas main that ruptured under Midlothian Boulevard, causing an explosion and a temporary evacuation of several dozen nearby homes.
“We’ve got to replace a 40-foot section of pipe,” said Neil Durbin, senior communications specialist for Dominion. Repair work by Dominion and a contractor began Monday, he said.
A 2 a.m. Monday explosion left an 8-foot-deep and 16-foot-wide crater in the eastbound curb lane of Midlothian at the Interstate 680 interchange.
Durbin said he did not know what caused the pipe failure and that the gas company will send the ruptured pipe to a laboratory to try to determine the cause.
No customers lost service due to the rupture because the company was able to reroute gas around the affected area, Durbin said.
Dominion crews have told the Ohio Department of Transportation that they estimate it will take about two days to complete the necessary repairs to reopen the eastbound lanes of Midlothian, according to an ODOT press release. Midlothian is state Route 625 and under ODOT jurisdiction.
The detour route for Midlothian eastbound is to enter I-680 southbound to the U.S. Route 224 exit, to I-680 northbound to the Midlothian eastbound exit.
In addition, exit ramp 9B from I-680 southbound to Midlothian eastbound remains closed.
Westbound Midlothian is open, and the entrance ramps from both directions of Midlothian to I-680 northbound are open.
The evacuees, most having gone to stay with relatives and some having been asked to drive to the Southern Park Mall parking lot and wait there, were told they could return to their homes shortly after Dominion shut off the leak at 3:30 a.m. Monday, said Youngstown Fire Chief John J. O’Neill Jr.
As a safety precaution, firefighters and police evacuated homes within 500 feet of the rupture on Midlothian Boulevard and Lemoyne Avenue and adjacent streets. There was no fire, and there were no injuries.
Youngstown firefighters and police were assisted by Boardman police and firefighters, the Ohio State Highway Patrol and ODOT.