By Karen Cirino-Barone
The 20-inch underground water main erupted at about 5:30 a.m. last Wednesday, owing to the cold weather. Construction to replace the main was completed this week, and the street is now back to normal.
The displaced water quickly turned into a thick sheet of ice, creating a very dangerous situation for motorists and pedestrians. The street was literally frozen solid from the southeast corner of East Rockaway High School to the northeast corner of Pearl Street. The sidewalks were also icy and virtually impassable.
Jim Ristano, assistant director of facilities and operations for the East Rockaway School District, said he was worried about the school's heating system last week, since it runs on water. Other than a slight water pressure loss, which led Ristano to lock the upstairs bathrooms in the high school to conserve water, the school remained undisturbed by the water main break.
L.I. Water Corp, the Long Island Power Authority, Cablevision, Verizon and Keyspan workers arrived on the scene shortly after the pipe burst. Nassau County Department of Public Works employees helped to make conditions for cars and pedestrians safer by spreading sand and salt. Ristano also used the school's sand supply to create a safe pathways for students, with school property surrounded by icy patches.
"Closing the school was not a consideration," said Ristano. "We had it under control."
By midday on Jan. 22, L.I. Water Corp workers had excavated the concrete and earth to gain access to the broken main. "There is a leak on a joint due to old age," said the L.I. Water Corp foreman on the site, who did not want to be identified. "There are two joints that blew out in two different spots."
Once the pipe was exposed, workers discovered that it could only be repaired temporarily with a clamp. A utility pole directly over the spot blocked permanent repairs until a new pole could be installed some three feet away, the utilities wires transferred to the new pole and the old pole removed by LIPA.
"The pipe was running directly under the pole, which necessitated the pole's removal," said LIPA spokesman Marco Cucci.
Last Thursday, the L.I. Water crew relinquished the site to LIPA, which erected a new pole and began the transfer of cables and utility wires. The transfer of high-voltage wires to the new pole was completed by Friday, and on Saturday the LIPA crew was again at the site doing a final check.
"We did a safety precaution, double run-through," said a LIPA crewmember. "We were able to complete the job with no outages to the town."
On Monday, Cablevision was on the site, transferring and re-connecting the wires for the school's fiber-optic service provider to the Internet.
"The crews, who worked out in the bitter cold, did a great job," said East Rockaway Superintendent Arnold Dodge.
"The worst thing to mix with this type of cold weather is water," said Brian Smith, a LIPA first-class mechanic on the job. "But when an emergency leak happens, we go out and fix it no matter what the weather. We're professionals."
