This is the crew repairing the water main break in front of our house. Fortunately, they don’t have to dig up the driveway as the break is right at the edge of the driveway curb. The water is back on by about 7pm and after filling the hole they move on to the next job up the street. We saw them later in the evening with work lights blazing in this guy’s front yard, a big party going on across the street and quite a few spectators.
It’s amazing how much you want to look in that hole to see what’s going on.
After locating the pipe, things really go quickly. They insert a cage to prevent a collapse in the hole, clean off the pipe, wrap it with a 2′ stainless steel collar lined with neoprene and clamp it on. The line pressure is slowly restored, and the line is flushed out the fire hydrant, so conveniently located in our front yard. Everything holds up and the cage is pulled, dirt replaced and now it looks like we buried somebody in the front yard. The city may get around to fixing up the grass in the spring.