City of Calgary calls for 3rd-party review into why water main ruptured
Officials expected to provide an updated repair schedule by end of week
City officials have confirmed that there will be a full, third-party review into what caused thecatastrophic water feeder main break that created an ongoing crisis for Calgary's water supply.
"I know you want to understand what happened to this pipe in the first place, and I do too," saidCalgary Mayor Jyoti Gondekon Tuesday morning.
"It's for that reason that I called for a third party to do a complete incident review of this situation."
David Duckworth, chief administrative officer for the City of Calgary, says the review will be guided by an expert panel.
"The scope of this review will include, but not be limited to, understanding the factors that contributed to the original pipe failure, understanding of our current practices for inspection and asset sustainability, and it will include recommendations for specific actions to improve raw water supply resilience moving forward."
The review panel will include academics, water industry and engineering experts and government entities.
"I know that this review will go a long way to providing both answers and transparency for the public," said Gondek.
City officials also provided an update on the state of two workers who were injured while working on the feeder main rupture site.
One of them is a City of Calgary employee who has now returned to work on modified duties. The other, a contractor, is still in the hospital, according toCoby Duerr, deputy chief of the Calgary Emergency Management Agency (CEMA).
5 hot spots being repaired
On Tuesday morning, Duckworthsaidthat crews are working "literally around the clock" to repair the additional stress points within the pipe that were identified.
"These hot spots are not leaks," said Duckworth, adding that the city's hopes are to avoid any potentialadditional breaks in the feeder main.
16 AVE ROAD CLOSURE UPDATE: At midnight on June 17, two new sections of 16 Ave were closed to complete repairs on the main feeder.
Bowness Road and 43 Street NW
45th and 46th Street NW
More info on pathway detours and closures https://t.co/cw3TCzHBBC pic.twitter.com/dpR4A1MmHu
—@cityofcalgaryAll of the hot spots are being repaired concurrently, and all five are in the two new areas on 16th Avenue N.W. that were closed off at midnight on Monday.
The components being shipped to Calgary from San Diego courtesy of that city's water authority are en route and expected to arrive today, according to officials.
However, the city says its three- to five-week timeline for conserving water while the repairs continue remains the same.
The city's general manager of infrastructureservices,Michael Thompson,said the cityexpected to provide an updatedrepair schedule by the end of this week.
Thompson sayspavement removal and excavation at the two new locations began Monday. That portion of the processis expected to be completed on Tuesday, he says.
The hot spot sections of the pipe will be removed later Tuesday.
Pipe lifespan
Kerry Black, an assistant professor and Canada Research Chair with the Schulich School of Engineering in the department of civil engineering at the University of Calgary, says it's fortunate that the hot spots were found while crews were repairing the initial June 5 rupture.
"A lot of these pipes are designed to be in the ground for a really long time," Black said during an interview withthe Calgary Eyeopener Tuesday morning.
The Bearspaw south feeder main ruptured just 49 years into what the city says is meant to be a 100-year lifespan. Black says that for pipes as large and critical as these water feeder mains, expecting it to survive for such a long lifespan isn't necessarilyunusual.
"Now, this one didn't quite make it to 100 years, but again, that's due to some factors that we're going to have to spend some time figuring out, doing a little bit of forensic engineering."
The city still has not confirmed the cause of the break, and Black says any number of factors could have contributed to the rupture.
"You can see in the pictures of the pipe thathave come out, that exposed steel is concerning."
"These pipes have been used across North America and are used in many jurisdictions," said Thompson during the city's Tuesday afternoon briefing.
"When we do the review, we'll be looking at this specific incident to understand what the causes were and to take lessons from that."
Thompson says any lessons learned during the formal review process will be applied across the city's entire water network.
Conservation efforts continue
The mayor says Calgaryused 450 million litres of water on Monday, which is below the 480-million litre threshold.
That said, officials say it's important this lower-usage trend continues, and residents in Calgary and the surrounding communities using this water such as Chestermere, Strathmore, Airdrie and Tsuut'ina Nationare encouraged to get creative in reducingtheir water use.
Stage 4 water restrictions remain in place in the city,meaning that outdoor water use is prohibited.
Duerr warned that violations may lead to fines starting at $3,000, and since the feeder main break, the city has issued only two tickets, both to corporations using water commercially.
"To be clear, we are only ticketing those who are either repeat or egregious offenders of the water bylaw," he said on Tuesday afternoon.
Duerr also urged residentsto be safe when it comes to creative methods of treated water conservation.
"Calgarians have been accessing the river directly using a variety of containers. Do not pull water from the river. Please capture rain water instead," he said.
"From a public health standpoint, I want to reaffirm that this water is not safe to drink or consume."
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