Bob Strickley

PDT Staff Writer

Commuters heading West on Gallia Street from New Boston have experienced gushing water and traffic delays since last Tuesday.

According City Waterworks Director Sam Sutherland, a water main break occurred at that time last week and was repaired by Thursday. However, another break happened in the same location early Saturday morning that has had crews busy all week.

“We basically had two leaks. One started last Tuesday and the secondary break late Friday, early Saturday morning,” Sutherland said.

Since Saturday, westbound traffic on Gallia Street has been rerouted onto Mabert Road and through the parking lots of Big Lots and Save-A-Lot.

The secondary break proved to be a larger problem than the first and Boone Coleman Construction was brought in to help with the repairs.

Age was the attributed as the cause of the main break, according to Sutherland.

“It was a really old pipe about 15 feet down. It actually had a date casted on it. It’s from 1935,” Sutherland said.

Repairs to the pipe itself are complete and crews are in the process of filling the hole with concrete and reapplying asphalt to the surface.

Sutherland said the break has caused a service disruption from Poplar Street off Gallia Street to Kendall Avenue.

“We are sorry for the inconvenience and it is a just a bad situation and we are doing everything we can,” Sutherland said.

Bob Strickley can be reached at 353-3101, ext. 203, or bstrickley@heartlandpublications.com.