By:JOSEPH KELLARD
A section of the 600-foot-long, 8-inch-wide, cast-iron water main sprang a leak on Feb. 6 at about 4:30 a.m. at the corner of Waukena and Neptune avenues, approximately 100 feet east of where it last broke on Oct. 15.
"It's a settlement leak, and apparently the ground has been undermined slightly, and that caused a crack, which is being repaired," G.J. Penza, a spokeswoman for Long Island American Water (LIAW), told the Herald on Friday.
The combination of water leaking from the broken pipe and heavy rain that morning weakened the soil around a nearby Long Island Power Authority utility pole. There was a possibility that the pole could have fallen on workers who arrived at the scene at 5:45 a.m.
"There was a LIPA pole that started to lean over," Penza explained, "and so LIPA had to be called out. So we had to delay some of the work until LIPA was able to prevent that pole from toppling over."
Waukena is a main thoroughfare in town that serves as a cut-through for motorists, but with the road half missing at the corner of Neptune, Nassau County Police initially shut down the road from Oceanside Road to Skillman Avenue, causing major congestion during the morning rush hour.
"It was so horrendous this morning," said Sue O'Sullivan, a resident of Knight Street, which connects to Waukena. She said it took her nearly 45 minutes to drive her daughter to nearby Oceanside High School. "I've never seen anything like that anywhere."
The 600-foot main on Waukena broke in 1994 and 1999 as well as last October, although in different sections. Sullivan said she thought the main keeps breaking in part because of the heavy traffic on Waukena, particularly large trucks that ignore the street's 8,000-pound weight limit.
"I think the heavy truck traffic is compromising the integrity of that road," Sullivan said. "The road is not meant to carry trucks that are as big as those coming down it, and this is what happens."
Penza said that both vibrations from traffic and soil erosion contribute to weakening the soil around the mains. "There could be some truth to it, but it may not be the entire reason there are problems with that pipe," she added.
Penza indicated that leaks like the one on Waukena typically occur in cold weather, which contributes to shifting of the ground, and that the unusually cold weather Long Island has experienced this winter could have a lot to do with the break.
After the main broke in October, Penza told the Herald that it's not unusual to have four breaks in a main over a decade, and that if there are multiple leaks in one area, LIAW will budget for and repair them. She said then that the Waukena main may be one that the corporation would "take a closer look at" and put on its list to be repaired.
"I don't know what's been done," Penza said Friday, "but it was discussed at the time. There may have been something planned for the budget."
