If The Dysfunction At City Hall Doesn't Sink Us, The Truck Route and Constant Repairing of Busted Pipes Just Might Do The Trick!

 

During Rob Perry's DPW report last Monday, he mentioned three recent sewer main breaks that his workers had been busy with -- one each on Parkwood, Oakwood and Columbia Street's 300 block near TSL.  Perry explained, with his wonderful pictures, why it typically takes about a week (5 days) to repair a broken pipe below the street.  The breaks on the Boulevards occurred late in December, an occurence which caused the city to go into water emergency mode; the break on Columbia occurred 3 weeks ago.  That repair shut the truck route down for 4 or 5 days, with tractor trailers and all sorts of other traffic taking over State Street.

 March 13th, Parkwood Boulevard, 2 
Water Department employees tending to 
an old water or sewer pipe

On Wednesday, December 18th of last year, there was a water or, more likely, a sewer main break at 4th & Columbia, something that HUDseen reported on at the time.  The DPW's repair of that break did not shut down the truck route (as far as I recall), with work taking a few days.  Just last week (!), DPW finally paved over that excavation permanently (hopefully!) with hot asphalt after covering it twice with temporary patch that kept the intersection a bumpy mess for westbound traffic for four months.  The recent pipe break near TSL, a long stone's throw from 4th & Columbia, occurred just 3 months after the break at 4th Street.

5 days ago, the finishing touches on
December's pipe break work!

March 21st, covering the excavation for 
the second of three attempts.  How much did 
this patch job cost us?

March 10th, 4th & Columbia

December 18th

From March 24th to the 28th the truck route was detoured.
Another rough patch on Columbia in the making.

Capped with concrete, not asphalt.  Every 
driver will feel it.  For years.

22 wheels damaging State Street and its residents thanks
to yet another diverted Colarusso gravel truck (yesterday)

Late yesterday morning, I noticed a few big rigs in quick succession headed east on the 500 block of State Street and I knew right away that Columbia Street was once again shut down to traffic.  Sure enough, as I soon found out, a sinkhole had broken through the asphalt in the middle of Columbia Street near the middle of the 300 block, the result of water gushing from a broken pipe below.  DPW was on it, ready to excavate, with signs and barriers up and the block free of all traffic.  This latest sewer main break, the third in three and a half months on the truck route, is a stone's throw from December's break and a double stone's throw from last month's.  The 300 and 400 blocks of Columbia are a patched mess and no delight to drive on (when it is open to traffic).  It gets worse by the month with no end in sight. (South 3rd from Warren to Partition, also part of the truck route, is an absolute mess as well.)

Picture taken yesterday, with the fresh patch from 
December's pipe break in the foreground.  The 
painted blue lines indicate a water or sewer pipe below.

At 6:30 pm yesterday, I counted 5 DPW workers (all of them making overtime!), 2 pickup trucks, a dump truck, an excavator and the street sweeper which doubles as a vacuum to suck up dirt and debris so the pipe rupture can be accessed.

During his report, Rob Perry's words and pictures about what a DPW pipe repair entails was too detailed, rather boring, and not very helpful to those paying attention. I can't imagine that anyone really cares what another cracked pipe or pipe sleeve looks like. What would be more helpful and instructive from Perry, especially given the state of the city's finances, would be for our DPW Superintendent to let the council and public know how much the repair of a water or sewer pipe typically costs the city. I'm thinking it would be a shocking amount of money and possibly lead to a serious examination of how our pipes are affecting the city's bottom line.  If I were a council member (which I am thankful not to be), I would request that Mr. Perry offer a monthly tally of how much pipe repairs cost the city.  You know, something meaningful and relatable -- a helpful piece of the big puzzle -- unlike yet another picture of another broken pipe. Every DPW report should include the number of pipe repairs made, the number of days or weeks it took to complete each one, and a ballpark figure of how much each one costs the city, including labor, gasoline, materials (including plywood!), and everything else that is needed to get the job done.  Please, no more pictures while you are on your couch at home; they are no help! Stop offering us pictures and stop taking them, including sideways ones.  Sit down at your desk (wherever it is!) and crunch some numbers so that you can tell us how much money the truck route is costing us before it bankrupts the city!

One of several sideways pictures from Perry's recent DPW report, this one 
showing the recent excavation for a pipe break somewhere in town.

Our old pipes under the truck route, no match for the constant truck traffic that shakes the earth, are killing us financially. This is especially true on the route's hilly section (there are at least 5 large patch jobs near TSL from past pipe trouble requiring excavation). The pipes are essentially rattled to death, even the new pipes put down to replace the old ones. On more than one occasion I have been on the third floor of 325 Columbia and felt the building shake from a truck rumbling by below as it was passing through town. It doesn't happen often, but it does when a truck, heavy and fast enough, hits a sweet spot near the northeast corner of the building. It's the opposite of an orgasm. If that huge building shakes because of the occasional passing tractor trailer, imagine what is going on below the street as a result of every truck along the entirety of the truck route. 

The first time I experienced a tremor at 253 Columbia I thought it was an earthquake.  After inquiring, an employee informed me that it was "just a passing truck."  I soon called the Columbia County Facilities Department to be sure its director was aware of the issue. He was not, even though every employee in that shaky building has been aware of it for years. I suggested to the director that he go have a look at the building's foundation to inspect it for cracks.  He said that he would.  After the third tremor I experienced, I no longer felt safe in that building, and I imagine there are at least a few employees in there who are also freaked out by the shaking.  You have to wonder:  when did the building begin shaking and how will it end?

To watch a tractor trailer turn at the intersection of State & 3rd is cringe-inducing.  It shouldn't be happening, but it is the only option we have for trucks when the truck route is closed, which is happening more frequently these days.  And why is the truck route being closed for repairs of ancient pipes below?  Because of the trucks, particularly Colarusso's monstrously heavy gravel rigs!  Oh, the irony is rich and ugly, ain't it!  Of course, in a beautiful twist, the more trucks and tractor trailers that are forced to travel on State Street, the more damage the five blocks from 3rd to Green sustain, including whatever trembles below the surface.  Look for a water or sewer main break or three on State Street soon!

A few years ago, trying to reach State.

Yesterday. Yet again.

What else do you suppose our DPW workers would be able to concentrate on without all these pipes breaking below our streets?  Projects to improve the look and feel of the city?  Would our parks get more attention?  Would there be less litter all over the place?  Would more potholes be able to be found and filled?  Would the horrible condition of South 3rd south of Warren be able to get some attention?  Would our curbs, sidewalks, pocket parks and parking lots get the attention they've needed for years?  Would Rob Perry find the time to replace some signs he so enjoys ignoring?  Would he find the time to make the worst of the worst public trash cans look respectable enough for human eyes?  Something tells me he would rather just respond to emergencies (and show pictures of it all) than stick to a plan that involves improving Hudson.  It's no stretch to say that all the fucking tractor trailers passing through town are keeping Hudson from moving forward in any positive, constructive manner.  We simply can't escape them, and Rob Perry has to focus way too much of his time and our money on the damage the trucks constantly bring to us.  If anyone needs to focus their time and energy on getting rid of the truck route, it's Rob! 

All those heavy wheels are killing us in so many ways.  Why is the city's logo that of a fucking smiling whale representing all the dead whales that arrived in Hudson to be butchered hundreds of years ago?  The logo should be updated to reflect reality: a tractor trailer or two (one being Colarusso's) spewing black smoke in the form of dollar signs and skulls while turning a tight corner near a ROAD CLOSED sign and Rob Perry standing next to a hole in the street in the background with pedestrians running for their lives covering their ears to get back indoors to escape the noise, cancerous fumes and insanity.

"Sorry, no time for any of this!  You are 
going to have to live with it!  We 
are busy below Columbia Street again!"

The end of day one, likely of at least 3 days of work.  Who
knows, maybe this can't be repaired before the weekend.