Burst pipe closes street

Danette Goulet

NEWPORT BEACH -- A water pipe erupted under University Road early

Thursday morning, causing the street to collapse and closing it until at

least tonight.

An 18-inch pipe “blew out” just before 1:30 a.m., leaving a gaping

hole in the street near La Vida right before the Corona del Mar Freeway,

said Joyce Wegner-Gwidt, spokeswoman for the Irvine Ranch Water District.

Workmen from the water district determined that a bad welding job when

the pipe was installed just two years ago led to premature corrosion,

Wegner-Gwidt said.

“It’s just fortunate that it happened in the middle of the night, that

there was no traffic and that no one was hurt,” she said.

Work began on the pipe immediately at 1:30 a.m. and district officials

said that workman would have it repaired by Thursday night.

“It was carrying reclaimed water that had been treated,” said Sgt.

Steve Shulman of the Newport Beach Police Department. “So any water that

went into the sewer would not cause any harm.”

The hole left in the street, large enough to fit a Volkswagen Beetle,

is not expected to be repaired until Friday night, however.

The water district has hired the Paulus Engineering Firm to help get

the road repaired as quickly as possible.

Until it is fixed, the road will be closed to traffic heading north

and will remain closed until Friday night or Saturday morning. Signs

altering drivers to detours start as far away as MacArthur Boulevard and

UC Irvine.

Traffic is still able to enter the freeway going both north and south.

Once the road is repaired, water district officials will look for the

source of the problem.

“[Workmen] didn’t know who the contractor was two years ago,”

Wegner-Gwidt said. “All we’re worrying about now is fixing it and getting

it back in shape and we’ll deal with the rest later.”