All clear: Fredericton crews brave extreme cold to repair burst water main

A road on Fredericton's north side has reopened after water and sewer crews repaired a water main in the extreme cold Thursday.

A pipe burst at about 2 a.m. on Riverside Drive in front of the FortNashwaakMotel.Utility crewsspentthe day repairing the break.

• Brrr! It's going to be another chilly day in N.B.

"This time of year, once the frost starts to sit in the ground, starts to move in the ground will just move and some of the older pipes, cast iron, there's no give to it," said Dave Cass, a systems operator with the city."Once it moves a bit [pipes]will snap."

A pipe in Fredericton's north side burst Thursday morning

7 years ago

Duration 1:10

Water and sewer utility crews are repairing a water main on the north side of Fredericton that burst early Thursday. They are expected to spend the day repairing the break.

To get to the pipe Thursday morning, crews had to break up the pavement through frost with the help of a hydraulic hammer.Once they broke through, an excavator bucket was used toget to the main.

The work was completed before 3 p.m.

"This was a substantial effort to get this fixed given the weather conditions, so we are very appreciative of people's patience as we work to get things back to normal," said ScottGrasman, assistant manager of Fredericton's water and sewer division.

About 80 per centof thebreaks are circumferential, meaning a break around the pipe. This can be repaired with a clamp. If it'sa longitudinal crack, the pipe has to be replaced.

The latteris a much longer process and requiresshutting off the water.

Not the first time

Casssaid there had already beenfour water main breaks across the city before the Christmas holidays.

"Now we have these deep cold temperatures starting to set in, so everything is starting to move," he said.

He said the water main break affected a small number of people in the area and the restaurant inside the north side hotel.

Motorists were encouraged to use Greenwood Drive and Route 8.

Grasmansaid the piece of Riverside Drive between the Princess Margaret Bridge and the FortNashwaak Motel, contains1950s and'60s cast iron pipes that have little flexibility.

He saidmany of the water pipes installed then had less iron in them, too, since post-war iron was more difficult to get.

A problem area

Grasman said Riverside Drive is a problem area, and atleast fiveof the 29 breaks thisyear happened on that road.

About 61 per cent, or 256 kilometresofpipe, in the city's water distribution system is cast iron, Grasman said.

Whenpipes are replaced, they are replaced with ductile iron,which ismore flexible. The city hasbeen using that kind of piping since 1972and has yet to see a natural failure with it.

Environment Canada said cold temperatures combined with moderate to strong westerly winds would give wind chill values of between30C and 35 C on Thursday morning.