Water pipes in Atlanta were nearly 100 years old

ATLANTA — After several major water main breaks ravaged the city of Atlanta for more than 72 hours last weekend, crews worked around the clock to replace old water lines with new ones.

But how old were these water pipes that seemed to be failing at the same time in several places in Atlanta? Well, at least for a major break in Midtown, try almost 100 years, city officials said.

The break caused water to gush out of the ground Friday evening near the intersection of West Peachtree Street NW and 11th Street NW — just hours after another major water break in Atlanta’s Mechanicsville neighborhood issued a boil water advisory, forcing businesses to close their doors across the city. and left residents without running water for 30 hours.

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On Tuesday, the city of Atlanta released photos of the burst pipe. The pipe was connected to the fire hydrant directly adjacent to the Eleventh Street pub.

This comes after Atlanta Watershed Management said the sections of pipe that ruptured between Joseph E. Boone Boulevard NW and James P Brawley Drive NW in Mechanicsville were more than 80 years old.

“There are barely enough resources to meet these daily demands and these emergencies…And I think we have an opportunity, and it’s imperative (once we come out of this situation) to step back and see what we can do.” from a more preventative standpoint,” said Iris Tien, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Georgia Tech. “Seeing what we can mitigate, what we can repair, what we can potentially replace before a These large events don’t happen so we can be more proactive about how we invest in infrastructure to minimize potential disruption.”

Water main break repairs at this downtown Atlanta intersection are now complete as of Tuesday morning, according to Atlanta Watershed. We didn’t know when the water would flow again.

In Midtown, the new pipes were installed Tuesday morning. The only remaining steps were to make two taps and pressurize the line. The City of Atlanta has released a side-by-side comparison of the old and new pipelines at 11th Street and West Peachtree in Midtown.

Officials said West Peachtree Street NE is still closed from north of 10th Street NE to 12th Street NE.

For a complete and detailed map of the neighborhoods and streets affected, click here. Over the weekend, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens declared the city under a state of emergency.

The City of Atlanta Watershed Management announced Monday that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will be there Tuesday to help resolve the crisis.

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