Work stopped: 2 workers injured at Calgary water main break

Mayor Jyoti Gondek said two workers, involved in the work to replace a broken water main, were hurt on Wednesday night and work on the critical feeder main has halted until Thursday afternoon at the earliest.

The mayor made the announcement during her regular update on the progress of the project on Thursday morning.

“Two people were injured on site overnight,” she said. “Both were taken to hospital and neither were in critical condition.”

On Wednesday night, crews were tasked with moving the replacement piece of feeder main into place, so crews could commence work on welding the new section onto the existing pipeline.

Gondek did not say how the two workers were hurt, but says “work on the pipe has been halted.”

“We currently have a team working with Alberta Health and Safety in that area and we expect that work on the feeder main will not resume before this afternoon.”

City manager David Duckworth said one of the workers was a city employee and the other was a contractor.

Consumption increases again, Gondek said

Doubling down on the news of the work stoppage, the mayor issued another bit of dire news for Calgarians.

She said that water consumption increased again, bringing it over the “safe threshold.”

“Our supply is lower than it has been in the last few days,” Gondek said. “This morning, we are at a place where we don’t have enough of a cushion for emergencies.”

Gondek said it could be that a fire truck arrives at a home in the near future to put out a fire and nothing could be there for firefighters.

“Every day, since Saturday, water usage has been creeping up. It’s that extra toilet flush, it’s the not-full dishwasher load, it’s the desire to take a longer shower. All of that is making a difference.

“I know it’s inconvenient, I know it’s hard to hear we need to do more, but we must.”

Pipelines inspected Wednesday

In an update on Wednesday evening, the city said crews have inspected about two kilometres of existing pipeline for any other issues.

“Additional results from yesterday’s in-depth inspection are being assessed by our team,” the city said on its Facebook page. “We have crews welding repairs on some of the access hatches along this section of pipe.”

The big job for Thursday, officials said, was to be welding the new pipe into place and installing a giant metal ring around it to secure it to the existing pipe.

“Once welding of the pipe is complete, we will continue to apply protective coating on the pipe to prevent corrosion.”

Welding work is expected to take about two days, the city said.

In addition, the city says it will turn its attention to Shouldice Park, which was damaged during the initial water main break on June 5.

‘Many unanswered questions’

Duckworth says that while the installation work on the water main has been paused pending the safety investigation, inspection work is still allowed to move forward.

“Calgarians still have many unanswered questions,” he said Thursday. “After every emergency we conduct a thorough post-incident review to find out what happened and why.”

Once Calgary’s water services have been restored, Duckworth says that will be the time to dive into a full investigation into what caused the feeder main to catastrophically fail.

“(We will) share our findings with council and Calgarians,” he said. “Thank you for your patience and understanding.”

Water restrictions are still in place for all Calgarians and residents and businesses cannot use water outdoors for any purpose until they are exempted for health and safety reasons.

Wading pools and spray parks throughout Calgary are also closed until the situation can be resolved.

Calgarians are being asked to continue conserving water for indoor use to help city facilities keep up with demand.

Gondek said all the work the crews have been doing is “critical” and she thanks them for all of their efforts.

“Our hearts are heavy at the city this morning with the news of these injuries,” she said. “Workers have been on site 24/7 working on this and this is difficult news.”

A further update on water main work is expected Thursday afternoon.