St. Helena Water Main Break: City Issues Statement

Press release from the City of St. Helena:

ST. HELENA, CA — At approximately 3:35 pm on Thursday, 1/19, the City received a call of excess water flowing through the asphalt on Pope Street at the intersection of College Avenue/Paseo Grand Drive – in front of Vineyard Valley. City staff including employees from Public Works, Police and Fire staff collaborated to control both vehicle and pedestrian movement in the area and began to work on determining the cause/source of the flow.

While the traffic was rerouted, public works staff located and closed several mainline valves to shut off the flow of water. Staff also brought other resources to quickly address the issue. It was fortunate that Argonaut Constructors, the contractor engaged in the pavement rehabilitation/accessible ramp project had staged their heavy equipment in the vicinity. By 9:00pm, Argonaut had removed enough pavement and material to locate the source of the failure which was a failed pipe coupling on an 8-inch asbestos concrete main.

Crews worked through the night and by 9:00am, the team had completed the repairs to the water main, including the disinfection process to assure conformance to State water quality standards. This process includes flushing of water through hydrants at either end of Pope Street. Services to all customers have been restored. Argonaut completed temporary paving repairs and staff opened the intersection to full traffic. The public should proceed slowly as the paving is rough and uneven, but structurally sound.

This press release was produced by the City of St. Helena. The views expressed here are the author’s own.