Another ruptured water line on Russ leads to all-nighter for repair crews

Aarik Long, The Mountaineer, Waynesville, N.C.
Updated ·3 min read

Jun. 20—A second water line break occurred in as many days along Russ Avenue in Waynesville. Unlike the one Monday that sent a spectacular geyser 30 feet in the air when a line was hit by road crews, a late-night break on Tuesday mysteriously began spewing copious volumes of water from pavement cracks, crevices and storm drains.

The break near the bypass interchange at the top of Russ flooded the road with so much water a police car parked in the median with lights flashing to keep motorists from hydroplaning.

The break led to an all-night marathon for Waynesville Public Works crews trying to ferret out the source of the break.

Crews called in late Tuesday were getting ready to turn in for the night when they had to don their work uniforms and report for duty — and were ultimately up for over 30 hours before the job was done.

Wayne Bolin, Waynesville water and sewer superintendent, praised the team's work ethic in coming in late after a full day of work.

"I got a good bunch, I ain't going to lie to you," Bolin said. "They don't gripe."

To find and fix the break, the water main had to be cut off — leaving businesses from Publix to McDonalds on Russ Avenue without water until 2 p.m. Wednesday. Numerous businesses closed, including McDonalds, Popeyes and Pizza Hut, unable to operate without water. Publix remained open, however, despite no running water.

The first order of business was finding where the break was coming from beneath the road, aided by a listening apparatus that detects the noise of spurting water underground.

"We've got a device where you put these earphones on your head and you can hear the more vibrations and more of the roaring," Bolin said. "Sometimes it doesn't work because of traffic. Last night, it was kind of rough because of the bypass."

The rumble of traffic on the bypass overhead made it difficult to discern the vibrations. But Bolin said they "hit it right on the head," chasing the right spot to start digging.

The break was 8 feet below the surface, involving a 10-inch diameter water main. An eight-foot-long section of pipe had to be replaced.

"We had to dig it all the way up. We took all the old soil out and put gravel in so there wouldn't be a soft spot. They're patching it now with asphalt," Bolin said Wednesday afternoon around 3 p.m.

The other challenge was with fixing the pipe in the dark, but public works had a solution.

"We've got a light tower that we had set up," Bolin said. "It makes it look like a football field."

It's currently unclear how much water was lost during the break.

"It's hard to calculate that," Bolin said.

The break followed one on Russ Avenue on Monday morning in front of Wells Fargo. Bolin said that break could have been a factor in Tuesday night's break, but he can't be certain.

"It very well could have been, but I can't honestly say that's what caused it. Sometimes air gets in the line and causes a break, but I can't say that's what caused it," he said. "It was just a break. Nobody hit it."