Hollister
– City officials said a broken water main, which interrupted
delivery of water to residents and stopped traffic Wednesday, won’t
be Fourth Street’s last.
Hollister – City officials said a broken water main, which interrupted delivery of water to residents and stopped traffic Wednesday, won’t be Fourth Street’s last.
The break occurred between West and Powell streets, taking almost nine hours to fix, city officials said. Crews had the pipe patched by midnight, but the street remained closed Thursday evening as of press time as pavement is repaired.
Clay Lee, the city’s community services director, said a 10-foot section of the cast-iron water main was replaced with more flexible and durable plastic.
Jim Hart, a utility technician for the City of Hollister, said the 40-year-old water main runs along a fault line. He said years of seismic activity had weakened the pipe.
Wednesday’s break was the second along Fourth Street this year.
In January, a section of the main broke twice in two days between College and Line streets, stopping through traffic and water delivery to nearby residents.
“We have had a number of breaks over the last five to seven years on Fourth Street and we have the same kind of pipe going down San Benito Street,” Lee said.
And, Hart said, it will most likely happen again.
Replacing the pipe is the only permanent solution, Lee said.
“The permanent fix? Yeah if we had millions of dollars to go in and replace mains,” Lee said. “But that’s not realistic.”
Another obstacle to replacing the main and fixing the pipe when it does break is the thick layer of asphalt on Fourth Street, Lee said.
On normal city streets, the top asphalt layer is four or five inches, Lee said. However, the asphalt layer that CalTrans lays for highways is 12 to 18 inches, he said.
Wednesday’s break perturbed some residents along Fourth Street.
Gina Arzeta complained that the city was slow to respond to the break. Arzeta also said the city failed to notify her of water service interruption.
With a 10-month-old daughter demanding bottles, the service interruption was difficult, she said.
“I was without water all day yesterday and all night,” Arzeta said.
However, Lee said that city crews were on the scene within minutes of receiving the call at 3:15pm Wednesday.
Lee added that the city sends a bilingual employee door-to-door to inform residents of service interruptions.
As for responding to problems quicker, Lee said the city needs help.
“If people do see these types of leaks, let us know as soon as possible,” Lee said.
