DECATUR -- With more than million people affected by the recent Arctic cold wave, crews from the Midwest to the east coast scrambled to keep ahead of broken water and sewer lines and ice-covered roadways. City workers from Decatur found that they were in the same situation as their contemporaries when they tackled both a broken water line and a frozen roadway when they came to work Jan. 2.
The broken water line occurred on the corner of Buckner Avenue and Main Street in Decatur. Water from the break flowed across the northbound lane of the Decatur Branch bridge, causing a major traffic hazard that threatened to close the main artery in Decatur. With temperatures dipping into the single digits on Sunday and Monday, water and sewer line strengths were tested to their limits.
Around 8 a.m. Jan. 2, crews were alerted to the problem by the public. When they arrived a short time later, Decatur Street Department crews found water running over the roadway and freezing in the northbound lane of Highway 59 (Main Steet). With air temperatures reaching -10 degrees in Decatur, the water started to freeze on the roadway almost immediately. Traffic splashing the liquid water onto the guard rail and creek bed made for some very impressive ice formations.
The break was in the main water line that feeds the southeastern part of Decatur.
By 11:30 a.m, city crews had scraped and laid down ice remover on the northbound lane allowing traffic to move at a steady pace.
With temperatures remaining at or below freezing for an extended duration, city crews were unable to repair the broken line until Jan. 4. Repairs to the line were expected to take a week to complete.
General News on 01/18/2018