Virginia Beach, Va. (WTKR) - Rainy weather Tuesday held up crews working to repair a water main at the intersection of Kempsville and Providence Roads in Virginia Beach.
The work is to repair the 36-inch main at the intersection which was first discovered to be leaking two weeks ago.
"We valved off the pipe. Nobody was interrupted as far as service," explained James Sarver, Utilities Operation Manager for Virginia Beach Public Utilities.
Due to the size and location of the main, the city decided to award a contract to an outside firm to complete the necessary repairs.
"They have larger equipment and better access to repair parts and things like that, so it just made good business sense to have a contractor do it as opposed to in-house forces," Sarver explained.
While crews will not be able to determine the exact issue with the pipe until excavation work can happen, they don't believe at this point that it is directly related to the recent cold weather.
"We think with this one it was a joint that actually separated," Sarver commented. "It looks like it was due to settlement in the ground and it opened up enough for it to start spraying out water."
Swings in temperatures recently have caused problems with stress on pipes across the city, leading to more than two-dozen weather related repairs in recent weeks across Virginia Beach.
"The cold temperatures put some additional stresses on our pipe, so historically we get a lot of water line leaks in the fall and winter and early spring," Sarver told NewsChannel 3.
During the repair work at Kempsville and Providence Roads, the right turn lane from Kempsville onto Providence will be closed.
Weather-permitting, repairs are scheduled to be complete by 6pm on Friday, December 13.
