Anchorage

Final fix for Old Seward and Tudor water main break weeks away

Initial repairs to Thursday's water main break at the closed intersection of Old Seward Highway and Tudor Road may take until next week — and more than a month may be needed for a permanent replacement.

Anchorage Water and Wastewater Utility spokesman Chris Kosinski said Friday afternoon that although a clamp on hand locally is sufficient to make a temporary repair to a "fist-sized" hole found in the pipe, buried 16 feet down, there are still concerns regarding water saturation of the soils beneath the intersection.

"The materials that we need for a permanent fix are four to five weeks out," Kosinski said. "We are working on a repair and we will have the intersection open for traffic no later than Monday morning."

Kosinski didn't have any immediate figure for the repairs' overall cost. Much of the delay for a long-term fix, he said, is a result of the damaged 20-inch concrete pipe originally laid at the site no longer being in common usage.

"Nowadays, this is considered a nonstandard pipe," Kosinski said. "It was installed in 1966, and it was considered a standard size then."

The utility first reported the line break at about 11:15 a.m. Thursday morning, saying the freshwater line had been breached by a contractor doing work at the intersection. Water was still being pumped into the broken pipe Thursday, preventing groundwater from contaminating it — but also raising issues about the stability of the intersection.

Kosinski said AWWU will work to improve the flow of temporary water being provided to about 50 residential and business customers directly affected by the outage. Although that flow will be sufficient for common household uses like showers and washing dishes, he asked affected residents to keep the repairs in mind for the near future.

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"Those individuals who are on temporary water during this time, we're looking into making arrangements to boost the pressure in the temporary water supply so it's closer to normal," Kosinski said. "We ask people to refrain from washing cars, excessively watering lawns — if you don't have to, don't water your lawn, and just be cognizant of your water use during this period."

Even after the supplies required to make a permanent repair arrive, Kosinski said, AWWU will have to consult with the state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities on when to close Old Seward and Tudor again for final work on the project.

"Once we know when we receive those, then we'll have to make a schedule with DOT, work with them to shut down the intersection, make the permanent repair and patch up the intersection again to bring it back up to normal operational standards," Kosinski said. "We're working as quickly as possible."

All northbound, eastbound and westbound traffic is being detoured away from Old Seward and Tudor before it reaches the intersection. Kosinski said southbound traffic on Old Seward is being diverted onto Tudor Road westbound.

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