Early Friday morning, the YMCA and some other businesses in downtown Lincoln had no water for six hours, while the crews replacing the downtown water mains switched over to the new mains at 11th and O.
The crews working on the water main project had to balance the needs of nearby bars, which stay open until 2 a.m., and the Y, where patrons want showers at 6 a.m and people living in upper-floor condos needing to get ready for work.
The decision was to shut off the water from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m., said Sharon Bredehoft, Downtown YMCA executive director.
Bredehoft had put the Y’s fire alarm system on test mode, so the absence of water for the sprinkler system wouldn’t set off the alarm.
However, the shutoff lasted 15 minutes longer than expected, and the fire alarm service notified the fire department. It marked another small bump in the road of the downtown water main project.
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The morning inconvenience on Friday was just one of the numerous frustrations that have been part of life in downtown Lincoln as the city replaces water mains that are more than 130 years old.
For three months, narrowed streets with lanes blocked for construction have slowed traffic, created bottlenecks and irritated drivers, while disruptions of water service have frustrated people who live and work downtown.
Take 10th Street, which tests drivers' patience during peak drive time with traffic so slow you could get out and walk the four blocks faster than drive it.
But Thomas Shafer, project delivery manager for the city, points out the bright side — the water mains that service the downtown area have lasted a very long time.
When the sand cast iron pipes were first put in, about 133 years ago, Lincoln was a town of about 13,000.
Today, 27,000 cars use 10th Street each day. So twice as many people drive past those water mains today as lived in Lincoln when the pipes first brought water to businesses downtown, Shafer points out.
Voters passed a $10,000 bond issue in 1881 to finance the city’s water system. And the pipes brought water to a growing downtown: to the State Journal Co., the local newspaper, at its new building on the corner of Ninth and P streets; and to the newly remodeled Douglas House, a hotel at 11th and P that could house more than 100 guests, based on Shafer’s research.
Downtown Lincoln today is also experiencing a lot of growth, putting additional pressure on the old water system.
The downtown water project is not a long one, replacing about 2,000 feet of pipe. But this is not your average 2,000 feet, says Shafer.
Replacing the pipes more than 100 years later is a complex project, a balancing act that requires the contractor, K2 Construction, to keep water and fire service available to businesses, and keep traffic moving, all while dealing with mysteries under the ground, Shafer says.
Not everything installed underground over the past century is on a current map. So the contractor has found things like an old abandoned steam system that once brought heat to buildings and a concrete utility access vault that looked like a dot on a map but was actually 12 feet by 12 feet.
The contractor has to wind around those obstacles while still maintaining some distance from wastewater pipes and electrical lines, Shafer said.
The project has been frustrating for motorists, who see the same thing day after day — orange-and-white barrels and pylons cordoning off lanes of traffic.
When a building is going up or being renovated, you can see the progress as you drive past, says Shafer. But you can’t see the work going on underground.
The $1.6 million project, where the city is putting in 12-inch PVC pipe to replace the 6-inch to 10-inch sand cast iron pipes of a century ago, began in mid-August and should be finished in March, though streets may be free of obstacles by January.Ìý
The downtown project is part of the city’s strategic plan to replace 7 miles of aging water main each year in an attempt to keep ahead of system breakdowns.