Water Restored to Morlot Avenue Residents Friday Night; Road Reopens

UPDATE: Friday, 10 p.m.

Water pressure was restored to the affected homes around 8 p.m. Friday, a supervisor on scene at the Morlot Avenue water main break said, as crews patched the deep hole they had dug beside him. He anticipated the road would reopen in its entirety around 10:15 p.m.

Fifty or so homes that have been without water since a main broke on Morlot Avenue early Thursday afternoon are not expected to have water restored until at least Friday night after crews recently determined fixing the break was beyond their capabilities, a Fair Lawn public works official said.

Crews were hoping to have the cracked pipe repaired by Friday morning, but ran into problems due to the size and location of the break, and a private contractor had to be summoned, assistant superintendent of public works Al Neggia said.

Neggia said he contacted Hackensack-based construction contractor J. Fletcher Creamer & Son to come assess the 3-to-4-foot long longitudinal crack in the 12-inch water main after borough crews couldn't seal it off completely and it continued to leak.

The pipe's location — alongside a 12-inch gas main, underneath an oil-filled electrical conduit and about twice as deep as the typical pipe because of its proximity to railroad tracks — has also increased the project's difficulty, borough engineer Ken Garrison said. He said the pipe's sensitive location will require crews to peform extensive and careful hand digging, which is more time intensive.

Neggia was hesitant to offer a time estimate for repair because the project will likely involve further digging and excavation, and possibly even valve replacement, but said he hoped water pressure would be restored by mid-to-late Friday evening. 

The break occurred around 1 p.m. Thursday in the vicinity of 19-09 Morlot Avenue, just west of the train tracks between Banta Place and Burke Place.

Homes located on Morlot Avenue between Banta Place and 17th Street, Boyd Avenue and Bryant Place have been without water since crews shut it off to begin repair work about 4 p.m. Thursday.

The few dozen affected homeowners were served boil water notices and should not consume any tap water without boiling it until further notice from the borough, Garrison said. 

Once the break has been repaired and the water begins flowing again to those affected homes, the borough must first test it to confirm its safety before lifting the boil water advisory, Garrison said.

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