Virginia Beach, Va. - A water main break closed down the southbound lane of Birdneck Road at Jackson Street in Virginia Beach Saturday afternoon. That break was one of 26 in the city over the weekend and is proving to be one of the toughest to repair.
Two more water main breaks occurred on Monday; one in a neighborhood off Holland Road and another on King Arthur Drive.
Jim Cherry, Virginia Beach's Water Operations Manager, is attributing the breaks to the fluctuation in temperatures over the last several days.
"When we get temperatures that drop from maybe, say 40s to the 10s, we can expect that within 3-4 days the reaction is whether it's shifting soils, and weak points in these cast iron pipes will cause shears and they will break," he says.
Crews say water main breaks are typical this time of year. But what's not typical is having so many in just one weekend.
The break on Birdneck Road is causing traffic issues due to the length of time it is taking for repairs to be made. The southbound lane that is closed for the repairs is expected to remain closed until Wednesday.
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Virginia Beach keeps eye on water mains with expected temperature swing
