CHATHAM — A piece of equipment used during a pipeline upgrade Tuesday caused Chatham’s second waterline break this month.
Workers with Keeling-based A.L. Yeatts General Contractor Inc. performing upgrades to a water line and valves supplying Columbia Forest Products repaired the break in less than 10 minutes, owner Alvin Yeatts said. Chatham Town Manager Mike Jones said water to residents was not contaminated or shut down.
The incident occurred at about 12:30 p.m. off Moses Mill Road when workers were trying to locate a cross-connector line between a 6-inch and a 10-inch line.
A piece of equipment hit a cork stop attached to a pipe, causing a break, Jones said. A cork stop is used to access the main line for inspections or adding chlorine, he added.
Jones said the mishap was a “construction accident” and said it was nothing like the break earlier this month that left residents without safe water for three days. However, replacing the old line and valves supplying water for firefighting and drinking water to Columbia would require temporarily shutting down its water supply, he said.
Aging infrastructure and lack of a complete pipeline map for the town’s water system, which includes about 9 miles of lines, were to blame for Tuesday’s accident, Jones said. Yeatts said there was no map for the 6-inch line that was cross-connected to the 10-inch pipe.
Jones said the 6-inch line was at least 70 years old. When the older water lines were built in the early 20th century, time passed as more lines were built and eventually disappeared off the map. Jones said his goal is to get Chatham’s entire water system mapped.
Contact John R. Crane at jcrane@registerbee.com or (434) 791-7987.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement