"Quick Work Of It"? And Will It Be Cheap, Too?

Our DPW Water Department began dealing in earnest with the water main break on South 4th Street yesterday, about 110 days after the break occurred and was temporarily patched.  At 3:00 in the afternoon, I counted 3 large and deep holes in the street, ten workers (not one of which was our DPW Superintendent), several trucks and one backhoe, one outside contractor, and at least one pipe spewing water at the bottom of the hole where the break happened.  This is turning into a very expensive, time-consuming task.  Robert Perry was either caught by surprise or didn't care for over 3 months what his department might be in for below 4th Street.  These things happen, I guess.  But showing no sense of urgency for nearly 4 months to permanently fix a water main break with winter fast approaching?  What kind of sensible approach to our ancient infrastructure is that?

I was told by DPW workers that no guillotine saw was used yesterday (as Robert Perry had claimed he needed to permanently fix the pipe), and that DPW still does not own one.  Also, a surprise/unknown water pipe 6-8 feet below the street had been hit with the backhoe, creating another leak and further trouble.  Our Superintendent never mentioned that an outside contractor (Glenn Davis Valve Solutions) would need to be hired for this job.

When the break occurred on July 9th, the temperature was seasonably warm, if not hot. Today it is cold, as it was overnight, not an ideal situation to be dealing with mud and water pipes 6 feet below the street. I was told yesterday that the job would be completed today, but I have my doubts.

Corroded old pipes from below

Mr. Perry told us at the informal meeting 3 weeks ago that nothing had been done about the water main break for 3 months because he "couldn't coordinate a time with Catskill" to help us with their saw. He went on: "They have a piece of equipment that will let us make quick work of it."  Well, it's now November, 2 additional holes have been dug, water pipes and DPW workers have been exposed to the cold for at least two days, and Catskill is not here with their saw.  Now a company that claims to be experts with water valves is here for at least two days helping out, likely charging us a few hundred dollars per hour to get things right. (Mr. Perry: If you had found time in the past 3-plus months to get Catskill over here with their saw, would you not have had to hire the water valve experts?)

On a somewhat related note:  National Grid's contractor, Mullen, is especially busy below our streets today, too.  In the 700 block of Columbia Street (truck route!), where it intersects with Green Street, traffic at the bend is allowed in one direction at a time due to a huge hole in the middle of the street.  At Allen & 3rd it's the same thing, though a smaller hole is being worked in.  And Mullen's pipe replacement work on Warren (at 3rd) has resumed, blocking many parking spaces on both sides of the street.  I wouldn't be surprised if they are also working somewhere on Green Street beyond State. 

Apparently, none of this was important enough for City Hall to post about on their website (or inform business owners of).  One wonders how large an infrastructure project, and how much traffic disruption, would be necessary for City Hall to say, "Hey, you know what?  We really ought to let everyone know about all this and how long it is scheduled to be around.  It only seems right, doesn't it?  Isn't that what our website is for, to inform people of what is going in the city, especially when there are major projects and disruptions?"  No, sadly, it's likely never crossed our mayor's mind.

Moments before going to "press," it began pouring rain!  Cold rain!