Water Department: Cold Snap Likely Cause of Burst Water Main
Left, crews from Wroblewski Construction finish resurfacing a section of Church St. Monday. (City-Times photo)
By Brandi Makuski
A Church St. water main in southern Stevens Point has been repaired.
Water Department crews had closed both northbound lanes along one section of Church Street Saturday afternoon to repair a burst water main, which had temporarily flooded the street near the busy Heffron St. intersection.
According to Stevens Point Water Distribution Superintendent Gary Kuplic, the water main burst around 1 PM Saturday afternoon. Workers from the water department began to chip away at the road surface to access the water pipes below and to relieve flooding on the road.
“We had a four- inch water main down there,” Kuplic said, who’s been with the water department 33 years.
When asked about the cause of the flooding, Kuplic said, “As far as I can tell, that’s an old cast iron pipe down there, put in something in the 50’s. The frost could have something to do with it, that frost goes down about three feet.”
The main was repaired late Saturday night. Crews from Wroblewski Concrete Construction were resurfacing the concrete Monday.
One northbound lane of Church St. remains closed to traffic. Kuplic said both lanes should reopen within 2-3 days.