Downtown Tulsa Water Main Break

Winter weather is taking a toll on city water lines, and the News on 6â€™s Ashli Sims reports itâ€™s turning roads into rivers.<br/><br/>City crews have ripped up the sidewalk in front of PSO headquarters.

Friday, February 2nd 2007, 1:52 pm

By: News On 6

Winter weather is taking a toll on city water lines, and the News on 6â€™s Ashli Sims reports itâ€™s turning roads into rivers.

City crews have ripped up the sidewalk in front of PSO headquarters. They're repairing a water line that gave workers here quite a shock on Friday.

It looks and sounds like something you would see on a high day, down at the Arkansas River. That is, until a car comes splashing through the waves. This river, located at 6th and Detroit, ran through Downtown Tulsa, the result of a 12-inch water line break. Rushing water buckled the sidewalk, bubbled up through the cracks, and flooded several city blocks; swamping cars and trees as it went.

"Water can be very destructive," Public Works Spokesperson Bob Bledsoe said.

Bob Bledsoe says this is just the time of year for breaks, and they always see a spike after a winter storm.

"The clays, when it gets wet and dry, cold or hot, expands and contracts,â€ said Bledsoe. â€œThat puts a tremendous amount of pressure on these pipes."

Bulldozers were hard at work all over the city. They worked seven water line breaks, just on Friday.
Downtown, city workers fanned out to find the source and shut the water off. Now that the streets are draining, the real tough work begins.

"Its hard labor. These guys dig out the lines get down in the hole with the mud and the muck and the water, and try to keep it pumped out while they're working," Bledsoe said.

At 53rd and New Haven one crew had to dig and climb into a 10-foot deep hole for a small leak. Then, they'll either repair or replace the pipe to make sure your water keeps flowing.

Crews are working overtime to keep up with the breaks. In January there were about 175 water line breaks that's 50 percent higher than normal.