MOUNT VERNON – Lightning struck in downtown Mount Vernon on Thursday, punching a hole in a water service line near City Hall.
“We're not sure not sure precisely where it hit, but it arced and grounded through our service line, a 4-inch line adjacent to our Plaza building, the police law office and courthouse,” Mayor Matt Starr told the Mount Vernon News.
This resulted in a 3-inch diameter hole in the water line when it hit sometime around 9:30 a.m.
“We had a bunch of water gushing out of the road, bubbling out of the road, and we had our crews out finding, locating where the line was breached and was just pouring right out of there. We tried to fix this under pressure; it was just too much,” Starr said.
The crews shut three valves significantly to make repairs. Two feet of 4-inch cast-iron pipe was replaced, along with a 45-degree elbow joint and a coupler. City records indicate the pipe was original to the Plaza Building’s construction on East Chestnut Street in the early 1970s.
The timing was difficult with the Mount Vernon Music and Arts Festival scheduled to kick off that evening. Chestnut Street was a major detour for all traffic. By 5:20 p.m. both east- and westbound lanes were reopened to traffic.
“I'm really proud of our crews for working in a tight situation and also under a time crunch,” Starr said. “I will say this: Mother Nature always wins when it comes to infrastructure.”
Engineering
The Catherine and Oak streets construction project continues, with the curb and gutter and a 7-inch base of concrete complete on Oak Street. The 10-inch concrete base at the intersection of George and Oak streets should be completed this week, with work completed and the streets reopened before the start of school.
The sidewalks on Oak Street are scheduled to be poured the week of Aug. 23.
Work has begun on the city’s underground reservoir project, with excavation on the north side started. .The storm manhole, catch basin, hand wall and 12-inch storm pipe have been installed.
The original bid was well over 10% of the estimation, so the city had gone back to the drawing board and brought more of the work in house. Some staff were trained and certified for confined space training.
ADA Compliant
City Hall now has an ADA-accessible door at the side of City Hall. An upgrade was made to improve access for wheelchairs.
Watch out for school kids
Starr said Police Chief Robert Morgan wants to remind everybody that school starts on Aug. 19.
“We'd like to remind all the motorists that there will be more pedestrians around. So, please: Slow down; use caution,” he said.
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