PLT (Pipeline Leaks Topic) >> Mary Rhodes Expected To Be Back In Service After Leaks Fixed-Aerial Inspection Reveals Yet Another Leak In Woodsboro

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Friday, February 18, 2000

Mary Rhodes Pipeline expected to be back in service after leaks fixed Aerial inspection reveals yet another leak in Woodsboro

By Deborah Martinez, Caller-Times

If all goes well, the Mary Rhodes Pipeline should be working again by the middle of next week, said city water superintendent Eduardo Gara$a. Two more leaks were revealed Tuesday - raising the total to three in one week - after private crews alerted city officials to one located about 100 feet away from the major one just fixed near Placedo on Friday. An aerial inspection of the pipeline revealed another leak, 40 miles south of the Placedo area, in Woodsboro. Officials closed the pipe down Wednesday. The line had barely reached its full capacity Monday, after the repair to the leak last week. The newest Placedo leak is identical to that leak, Gara$a said. The Woodsboro leak, which was found almost a mile into a ranch there, hasn't been reached yet and can't be described, he said. Since an aerial inspection hasn't been done since the city assumed control of the line late last year, officials aren't sure when that leak sprung. Pate & Pate, the private contractor who fixed the leak last week, was still at the Placedo site when the newest leak in that area was found, Gara$a said. The latest repair there has been made, but the crew will stay until at least this morning to excavate and make sure there are no other leaks in the Placedo area before they travel to Woodsboro to tend to that leak. After the Woodsboro leak is fixed, the crew will excavate there, too, and make sure there are no other leaks in that area. The aerial inspection Tuesday didn't reveal any other leaks. Gara$a said he wouldn't be sure what caused the latest leak until he inspected it thoroughly. One possible scenario could be a water hammer, which can be caused from stress on the pipe as air enters the system and then pressure drops rapidly. The hammer can be compared to a shock wave. The latest leaks still are covered by the pipeline's warranty, Gara$a said. Aside from the $132 million pipeline's leaks in the past two weeks, there were six leaks in 1999, which allowed the city to pump less than one-third of the amount of water purchased for the year. "We're all disappointed in the performance of the pipeline right now," Mayor Loyd Neal said. "But the main thing to do is ask the contractor to investigate . . . and get this done under the warranty." Neal said that when the City Council assumed control of the pipeline, the Port of Corpus Christi Authority had given its certification that the 101-foot-long pipeline was functioning properly, and in their opinion, operating properly and substantially complete. The City Council will discuss the pipeline at its next meeting on Tuesday. Neal said they would listen to the recommendations of city attorneys, staff and design engineers. http://www.caller.com/2000/february/18/today/local_ne/105.html

-- Dee (T1Colt556@aol.com), February 18, 2000

Answers

If all goes well, the Mary Rhodes Pipeline should be working again by the middle of next week, said city water superintendent Eduardo Gara$a.

Two more leaks were revealed Tuesday - raising the total to three in one week - after private crews alerted city officials to one located about 100 feet away from the major one just fixed near Placedo on Friday. An aerial inspection of the pipeline revealed another leak, 40 miles south of the Placedo area, in Woodsboro. Officials closed the pipe down Wednesday.

The line had barely reached its full capacity Monday, after the repair to the leak last week. The newest Placedo leak is identical to that leak, Gara$a said. The Woodsboro leak, which was found almost a mile into a ranch there, hasn't been reached yet and can't be described, he said. Since an aerial inspection hasn't been done since the city assumed control of the line late last year, officials aren't sure when that leak sprung. Pate & Pate, the private contractor who fixed the leak last week, was still at the Placedo site when the newest leak in that area was found, Gara$a said.

The latest repair there has been made, but the crew will stay until at least this morning to excavate and make sure there are no other leaks in the Placedo area before they travel to Woodsboro to tend to that leak. After the Woodsboro leak is fixed, the crew will excavate there, too, and make sure there are no other leaks in that area. The aerial inspection Tuesday didn't reveal any other leaks. Gara$a said he wouldn't be sure what caused the latest leak until he inspected it thoroughly. One possible scenario could be a water hammer, which can be caused from stress on the pipe as air enters the system and then pressure drops rapidly.

The hammer can be compared to a shock wave. The latest leaks still are covered by the pipeline's warranty, Gara$a said. Aside from the $132 million pipeline's leaks in the past two weeks, there were six leaks in 1999, which allowed the city to pump less than one-third of the amount of water purchased for the year. "We're all disappointed in the performance of the pipeline right now," Mayor Loyd Neal said. "But the main thing to do is ask the contractor to investigate . . . and get this done under the warranty." Neal said that when the City Council assumed control of the pipeline, the Port of Corpus Christi Authority had given its certification that the 101- foot-long pipeline was functioning properly, and in their opinion, operating properly and substantially complete.

The City Council will discuss the pipeline at its next meeting on Tuesday. Neal said they would listen to the recommendations of city attorneys, staff and design engineers.

LINK

-- Dee (T1Colt556@aol.com), February 18, 2000

-- Dee (T1Colt556@aol.com), February 18, 2000.


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