Detroit repairs nearly complete five weeks after massive water main break
Repairs nearly complete following massive water main break
On Monday, crews continued their work to repair infrastructure damaged when the 54-inch water main broke. The incident damaged roads and homes, and caused major flooding, leading to many residents being evacuated.
DETROIT (FOX 2) - Over a month after the largest water main break incident in city history, Detroit officials are providing another update, saying progress is back on track.
What they're saying:
On Monday, crews continued their work to repair infrastructure damaged when the 54-inch water main broke. The incident damaged roads and homes, and caused major flooding, leading to many residents being evacuated.
"We said we'd get this done in six weeks, and we’re going to make that deadline," said DWSD director Gary Brown. "We have sanitized and removed debris from out of 152 homes, we've replaced furnaces in 117 homes along with hot water tanks. On the plumbing issues, we had quite a few homes that had plumbing where it had froze, and we replaced those pipes in 16 homes."
Some homes required electrical work, with 52 of them needing replacement electrical boxes.
By the numbers:
Meanwhile, all 200 residents who were placed in hotels since the incident are now back home, except for four homes that have presented unique challenges, and those residents remain in hotels.
"Another home that has a dirt basement, and so we had to put a cement slab in the basement in order to install a new furnace," said Brown.
What's next:
Despite the challenges, those residents will be home soon, with Brown saying they expect all four of those homes to be done by Wednesday or Thursday.
Residents who filed claims are getting reimbursement checks.
"I’m also happy to report there were 321 claims filed in that area, and we have started out today writing out checks and settling up claims as of today," Brown said.
The backstory:
On Feb. 17, a 54-inch water main broke in the area of N. Green and Rowan streets. The water flowed for blocks, filling streets, flooding basements, and trapping residents in their homes.
Brown said it was the worst water main break he has seen in a densely populated area in the 10 years he has been running the department. The water was drained and crews worked to replace the broken pipe that was originally installed 100 years ago, which was cut out and replaced.
The city said it would take about two weeks to get the water main repaired – which was repaired last week.
But repairing the pipe and getting water back in is only part of the solution. The city has pledged to cover repairs and replacements of furnaces, water tanks, appliances, and more.
The Source: FOX 2 talked with DWSD Director Gary Brown and used information from previous reports.
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