Freezing weather keeping city of Tulsa water crews busy fixing leaks

Every hard freeze puts Tulsa's water lines under pressure - and every thaw makes them crack. Dozens of lines are leaking - and the city is working around the clock to make repairs. <br><br>News on

Monday, January 27th 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Every hard freeze puts Tulsa's water lines under pressure - and every thaw makes them crack. Dozens of lines are leaking - and the city is working around the clock to make repairs.

News on Six reporter Emory Bryan says the city is digging holes all over town, tracking down leaks that popped up this weekend. Here's how they start - a fountain of water - sometimes along the road, but usually along residential streets in yards.

It takes a big hole to fix even a small leak - and several hours of time to make the repair. The number of leaks has the city working through the night. Darrell Ferguson with the City of Tulsa, "We had 14 breaks yesterday and 19 breaks on Saturday and they've been all over the city, north south east west, you name it, they're all over."

Every hard freeze and thaw cycle creates another round of leaks. In the worst areas - they'll go back in better weather to replace a long section of pipe, something the city spends about $3-million on every year.