City-hired contractors were working Friday afternoon to repair a water line on the Animas River that broke last week.
The pipe near Memorial Park was breached at the same time a nearby fire hydrant broke, resulting in the loss of about 1.6 million gallons of water.
Director of Utilities Steve Salka said the simultaneous incidents caused a “perfect storm” of utility emergencies.
Maintenance began Tuesday on the pipe, which will cost in the realm of $70,000. Replacing the hydrant in the 3000 block of Main Avenue will cost about $4,500 plus labor.
Parks and Recreation Director Cathy Metz said contractors breached the pipe as they were addressing a river hazard.
“What we think is an old railroad tie was coming out of the river, and people using it for recreation were having problems – the tie was slicing rafts,” she said.
The city hired contractors to place a rock on top of the tie. Salka said the utilities department did not know the crew was going into the river the day the pipe broke.
“We didn’t want to pull it out because we don’t know what it’s attached to,” Metz said.
The water line was bridged, meaning there was no soil beneath it, so it was highly exposed.
“We’re lowering the whole line about five feet and encasing it in concrete so this doesn’t happen again,” said Eric Andasola, superintendent of Shelby & Sons Construction, a different contractor than the one responsible for the breach.
Salka said most of the water loss came from the hydrant, not the pipe break, but the leak was stopped in about 15 minutes.
An Animas Valley Construction crew broke the 12-inch pipe at the same location on the river in 2013. Fortunately, a valve replaced when this break occurred allowed the utility department to stop the water flow quickly last week.
Workers have fashioned a coffer dam and have to keep raising it as the water rises, which has occurred at a faster rate because of recent warm weather. Water rose more than a foot Thursday night, Salka said.
Crews will be working on the pipe through the weekend, and if all goes well, the project will be complete in one to two weeks.
While fire hydrants on the northern part of town are functioning, the blowout affected water pressure, which could be a problem if there is a major fire, Salka said.
jpace@durangoherald.com
