Sound Politics: Sewer of Corruption (XXXIV)

April 26, 2007

Sewer of Corruption (XXXIV)

Literally: "Broken water main a 1.5-million-gallon problem for South Lake Union"

After a city contractor broke a water main and flooded a South Lake Union neighborhood with as much as 1.5 million gallons of water Wednesday, city officials still don't know why the streets weren't marked to indicate the underground pipe.

Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at April 26, 2007 10:14 AM | Email This

Comments

1. Uh, maybe the "call before you dig" guys who do the painting weren't called? That's the contractor's responsibility. I see that Merlino said they'd called the one-call, so I apologise for even thinking that - Merlino is indeed one of the best, and have years of excellent utility experience.

So, did the one-call service drop the ball, or did Seattle Public Utilities fail to get the mains painted in time? The Times doesn't say. If the other utilities were indeed painted (which the Times does say), I'd look more intently at the SPU connection.

Also, if pavement removal (not a deep-digging operation) busted the mains, then was the main buried very shallowly (unusual by Seattle standards), or was it a particularly feeble old pipe? Come on Times, keep digging.

Posted by: Hank Bradley on April 26, 2007 10:43 AM

2. Doesn't matter who's at fault. Seattle will ensure tax and rate payers get stuck with the repair bill.
Holding any of the construction entities accountable just isn't The Seattle Way.

Posted by: no dessert for greg on April 26, 2007 11:27 AM

3. I saw this story on a local Houston channel this morning on one of there morning shows and they were just cracking jokes left and right about it.

One of the locals down here told me that if Seattle would only just keep digging and hit more pipes they may end up flooded like New Orleans and that perhaps that was the only way to clean up that city.

Posted by: TrueSoldier on April 26, 2007 12:25 PM

4.
Ok, we get it.

Deny the sewer contract and suddenly a water main "breaks".

Sims must have contracts with every utility in the Sound for "protection".

Hey, that's why I never voted Republican until I moved out of Seattle (didn't want my electricity turned off).

Posted by: John Bailo on April 26, 2007 12:42 PM

5. Your comment doesn't make any sense.

Posted by: swatter on April 26, 2007 01:26 PM

6. dang Logan--it's all HIS fault!!

Posted by: jimmie-howya-doin on April 26, 2007 01:32 PM

7. "measure twice--cut once"
I learned that as a kid in our tool shed.

Posted by: jimmie-howya-doin on April 27, 2007 07:28 AM

8. Actually, the water pipe was not buried at the city standard depth of 36" and is suspected to have been installed in the '30's.
Merlino is also commenting on the lack of the water line on the city blue prints. If the call-before-you dig folks were just using the blue prints, they may not be to fault either...
Bummer for the residents, but man, it was quite the show! I half expected to see some rodeo kayaker spinning cartwheels. The water was easily deep enough when I drove by (about a minute after it started...)

Posted by: spdr_mnky on April 27, 2007 01:47 PM