The Student News Site of University of Arizona

The Daily Wildcat

55° Tucson, AZ

The Daily Wildcat

The Daily Wildcat

 

Gas leak halts work

Gordon Bates / Arizona Daily Wildcat 
A gas leak this Monday resulted in evacuation of the dorm construction zone on 6th Street and Euclid. The Tucson Fire Department and Southwest Gas visited the scene to get the leak contained and to make it safe for construction to continue.
Gordon Bates
Gordon Bates / Arizona Daily Wildcat A gas leak this Monday resulted in evacuation of the dorm construction zone on 6th Street and Euclid. The Tucson Fire Department and Southwest Gas visited the scene to get the leak contained and to make it safe for construction to continue.

A gas main on Tyndall Avenue was hit Monday morning, causing gas to leak for more than an hour and prompting the response of the local fire department.

A temporary seal was placed on the gas main with final maintenance to be completed on the pipe Tuesday afternoon.

Southwest Gas Company was alerted at 11:50 a.m. on Monday of the 4-inch gas main being struck by a contractor digging too close to the gas lines, causing the shutoff of gas to the area, according to Libby Howell, a company spokeswoman.

A digging bar caused a small hole to form in the line, which caused the leak. Contractors installing air conditioning equipment to buildings on the edge of the UA campus slipped and hit the line.

Gas was shut off to the main about an hour after the leak was first reported, around 1 p.m.

The struck gas main needed additional attention due to its depth underground.

“”These things happen with some regularity,”” said Howell of this and other stricken gas mains. However, the difference between this and similar strikes is the depth of the pipe. A major accident was narrowly avoided due to the type of instrument that struck the pipe.

“”That’s why we encourage contractors to get a blue stake (to let us know where they’ll be drilling),”” Howell said.

“”Now, a 4-inch main is a good size main so if it was a full break, you would have heard it all over,”” she said.

There were no major outages or evacuations in the area surrounding the leak because the damaged gas main had a two-way feed, allowing the surrounding area to continue to get gas while the leak is being fixed.

Despite the small size of the hole, the entire section of pipe will need to be replaced.

The contractors who struck the main, as well as Southwest Gas Company, will both work to fix the damage, which is estimated to cost between $2,000 and $6,000.

More to Discover
Activate Search