Working in miserable conditions is nothing new for city employees.
Iola Water Department employees had the “pleasure” of dealing with single-digit temperatures as they repaired a water main break in downtown Iola Tuesday afternoon.
But unlike other utilities that have strained and occasionally broken because of the bitter cold snap, this water line repair had nothing to do with the weather, noted City Gas, Water and Wastewater Superintendent Mitch Phillips said.
“It has more to do with that water line being older than me and you put together,” Phillips said.
It took several minutes of jackhammering, and pounding away with a backhoe scoop to break through the surface of South Washington Avenue to get to the leak.
That’s because Washington originally was built as the main north-south highway through Iola, Phillips said. After getting through the top layer of asphalt, crews encountered another layer of concrete, which was poured atop a layer of brick.
Once the outer layer was breached, backhoe operator Eric Miller had little trouble digging through the gravel sub base to get to the broken line, about six feet below the street’s surface.
Water service was shut off to customers immediately surrounding the broken line in the 200 block of South Washington, which allowed crews to pump the water out of the hole so the repairs could begin.
Within two hours crews were able to replace the broken segment.
Even with temperatures in the single digits, working in the bottom of such a pit is not as cold as one might think, Phillips said.
Fortunately, the leak was reported at mid-afternoon, and not earlier in the day, when temperatures were still below zero.
In those conditions, it’s not uncommon for wet tools to freeze to gloves and hands, Phillips said.
“You literally have to dip them in water just to let go of them,” he said.
Tuesday’s water line breach was the third such repair city crews have handled since the onset of the cold weather last week.
Several residents also have had to deal with broken and frozen water lines as well.
