Red Square after the pipe burst. Photo by Alex Roberts
A burst water main flooded Red Square and forced Facilities Management to shut off the water to Bond Hall, Haggard Hall and the Humanities Building on Saturday.
University Police was notified of a possible water main break at 6:22 p.m.
The water main intersects with a pipe that feeds into the Humanities Building. This intersection of jointed pipes, called a T-joint, cracked due to the settlement and shifting of the ground, which caused Red Square to flood.
Steve Morrow, a supervisor for the Plumbing Shop of Western’s Facilities Management, was called to take care of the situation.
Morrow turned off the water on both sides of the break with a retractable wrench to isolate it from the flow.
“It’s always a problem for cities and universities of this size,” Morrow said. “Underground piping is sometimes quite old.”
Morrow said breakage in the pipes on campus is partially due to the fact that the ground shifts over the course of the year.
People of all ages and dogs of all sizes lined up on Saturday morning to compete in the second. Photo by Alex Roberts
“We have (had) many breaks on campus in the 15 years that I’ve been here,” he said. “We just repair them.”
After Morrow turned the water off, the bricks that were laid above the break collapsed, leaving a large hole that University Police roped off with yellow tape.
Cory Anderson from Outdoor Maintenance of Western’s Facilities Management was at the scene on Sunday with the utilities crew to dig out the broken T-joint.
Anderson said the pipe was in good shape overall, and that the jointed pipe intersection was just cracked because it had settled with the ground.
He said the pipes needed to be fixed before Monday, so that classes could be held in the three surrounding buildings and Miller Market could be open.
The plumbers tested the water in the buildings to make sure there were no problems, and that all of the toilets were in working condition, Anderson said.
Morrow said the T-joint was replaced by a new one built by the plumbing crew, which was braced with couplings made especially for broken water mains.
The plumbing crew turned the water back on in the three surrounding buildings and waited until Monday before covering the pipes back up, to make sure there were no problems with the water flow, Morrow said.
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