Water main break swamps Dithridge

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A 20-inch water main burst in North Oakland… Click Here to View Water Main Slide Show

A 20-inch water main burst in North Oakland yesterday afternoon flooded several streets and sidewalks in the area, grid-locked traffic and disrupted the water supply to Pitt’s campus and thousands of nearby residents.

The pipe, beneath North Dithridge Street at the corner of Centre Avenue, broke just before 1 p.m. Thursday and uprooted a large section of pavement outside the Herron Hill Pump Station.

The cause of the incident was still unknown at press time, however Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority worker John McCarthy described the incident as “an act of God.”

The City of Pittsburgh Fire Department and City police responded to the scene, as well as a team from the PWSA.

North Dithridge Street and Centre Avenue were littered with broken rocks and concrete and inches deep in water. Both streets, as well as Melwood and Craig streets and Neville Avenue, remained closed until the late afternoon. The intersection of Centre and North Dithridge was still closed at press time.

When the water main first broke, authorities tried to shut down valves along the line. But many valves were submerged in the gushing water, and the floods continued for hours, PWSA Executive Director Gregory F. Tutsock said.

The flow reduced as the valves were shut, and crews pumped water from the scene.

Tutsock said that the break released millions of gallons of water and that the PWSA would attempt to estimate the exact volume leaked once the situation is stabilized.

Parts of Oakland, Squirrel Hill, Greenfield, Polish Hill and Shadyside experienced drops in water pressure and loss of water service, according to Tutsock. Some buildings saw dirty water coming from their faucets, and many businesses, including a sizable segment of Squirrel Hill, were forced to close their doors early.

Disruptions in the area were spotty, however. Mike Will, manager of Logan’s Pub, just a block away from where the main burst, said that the water supply at his business was still flowing at 8 p.m.

“The Health Department called me at 2 p.m. and said to run water for dishes in case they had to shut [the water] down,” Will said, but the water pressure remained normal.

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, who arrived at the scene not long after the break, said, “The main thing is to ensure public safety.”

He added that most pipes beneath city streets were five to 15 years old, and “we don’t know which will break” or when. A water main burst on Dithridge Street near the same location seven years ago.

No injuries from the initial break were reported, and it was “lucky no vehicles were at that portion of the road,” he said.

But vehicles were nearby on Centre Avenue at the time the water burst from the ground, said bystander Eric Graff, a Pitt senior.

Graff was pulling his truck out of the driveway of the Tau Epsilon Phi fraternity house on Centre Avenue when water almost 6 inches high went rushing down the street.

“A wave of water started rushing down the street, and it was billowing over the steps,” he said. “Then I saw the cars losing traction,” he added describing the initial scene of traffic on Centre Avenue between North Dithridge and Craig streets.

Several area hospitals lost service because of the break and were kept afloat with water from tanker trucks and fire engines.

On-campus water service disruptions continued into the night at many campus buildings.

Loss of water pressure forced the closure of the Market Central dining facility after the area was evacuated because of a fire alarm that an engineer on the scene said may have been activated by the pressure drop. The William Pitt Union was also shut down after losing pressure.

Pitt police and staff at Panther Central were unable to confirm the details of plans to assist students living in residence halls that were without water pressure.

Students living on upper campus in Panther, Sutherland and Pennsylvania halls were without pressure and were not able to flush their toilets or take showers. Some students had minimal water flow coming out of their sink spigots.

As the evening progressed, portable toilets were brought to upper campus and set between Panther and Pennsylvania halls.

Students were told they could take showers and use the bathrooms at the Bellefield gym. After the gym closed at 10 p.m., students were directed to the bathrooms in Hillman Library and David Lawrence Hall.

A staff member at Telefact told The Pitt News that the University called the famous 4-Fact line early in the evening seeking the phone number of a 24-hour portable toilet rental agency.

Tutsock said the loss of pressure in the area was because of the fact that, in order to fix the break, the water authority was forced to shut down the Herron Hill pumping station. He added that the necessary repairs were in progress and that he expected service to be restored by 2 a.m. Friday.

In spite of the ordeal, the brothers of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, whose house is located adjacent to Sutherland Hall, decided to enjoy their Thursday night festivities anyway.

“We sacrificed the last bit of water in our pipes to fill up our cups,” house manager Joe Black said, gesturing to the red Solo cups currently being used as wash cups in a game of beer pong.