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Brrrr … utility workers repair line
This week, frigid temperatures have been the main topic of conversation.
Some of us have experienced frozen pipes over the last week, pipes that perhaps burst as they thawed. But none of us have had to deal with the problems the Atmore Utility Board maintenance employees have faced.
A water main cracked Sunday at Howard and Main streets. Utility board construction maintenance superintendent Chris Singleton said this was the fifth line that cracked last week. Even with the crack, no homes or businesses were without water. The pipe could have been repaired Monday, however, the decision was made to call the crew in Sunday because water was running onto Main Street and with a predicted low of 13 degrees Sunday night, the ice could have presented a hazard to motorists.
Singleton explained that the cold weather was to blame for the leak. The ground contracts and expands, causing lines to break. This was actually a complete ring break, meaning the pipe cracks all the way around.
The one that broke Sunday is an 8-inch line, one of the larger ones in the city. So while most folks were warm and dry Sunday afternoon, a couple of Atmore utility board employees were almost knee-deep in water with water spraying on them as they repaired the crack.
At about 12:15 p.m., when Phillip Allen was on a trackhoe digging out the dirt to get to the broken main, the air temperature was 27 degrees. When the break was exposed, water shot out of the hole.
Someone had to go down in the hole, clean the pipe, and clamp it – in freezing weather with water spraying them. That’s where utility board employees Scott Stevens and Randy Harrelson came in. The pipe had to be cleaned of years of caked-on dirt before a clamp could be fastened to it. Harrelson and Stevens went into the hole.
Harrelson cleaned the pipe with a pipe scaler and a file. When he started, Allen closed the top of the break as much as possible with the bucket of the trackhoe. When Harrelson moved up the pipe, Allen had to move the bucket, and Stevens stepped in – literally. He stood on the crack while Harrelson continued to clean the area. All this time, they’re being sprayed with water. When Harrelson got close to the crack, Stevens put his hands on the crack to seal the spray as much as possible.
A clamp was put around the pipe, pushed over the crack, and sealed. At this point, the air temperature was 33 degrees.
Singleton said the water was actually warmer than the air, so the guys were all right as long as the water was hitting them. But as soon as they got out of the hole, Singleton hurried them to the trucks.
For a few moments, Stevens thawed his hands on the warm air coming out of the trackhoe exhaust.
Utility Board employee Ervin Berry was also on hand, but didn’t have to get wet. City employees were standing by with truckloads of dirt to fill the hole and pack it. An Atmore police officer had helped put out the orange cones and yellow tape to route traffic away from the site. The officer also stayed on the site while the work was going on. This was another good example of how the city departments work together. There are times when the utilities employees are working on gas lines, and the fire department is on the scene as well.
Pictured at top, Phillip Allen uses the trackhoe bucket to stem the spray from the broken line as Randy Harrelson cleans the 8-inch pipe with a pipe scaler.
Scott Stevens, left, puts his hands on the top part of the break to keep the water from hitting Randy Harrelson as he cleans the pipe with a file.
Utility board construction maintenance superintendent Chris Singleton, left, and Scott Stevens, center, look on as Phillip Allen, on the trackhoe, digs out the dirt around the pipe. At this point, water has already started gushing out of the break.
Scott Stevens, left, stands on the broken pipe as Harrelson, barely visible at right, cleans the pipe near the break.
Finally … Scott Stevens, left, starts climbing out of the hole as Randy Harrelson tightens the clamp.
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