127-year-old water pipe collapse causes flooding in New York’s Times Square

A 127-year-old water pipe collapses under New York’s Times Square

A 127-year-old water main under New York’s Times Square gave way early Tuesday, flooding downtown streets and the city’s busiest subway station.

The two-foot pipe gave way under 40th Street and Seventh Avenue at 3 a.m., quickly delivering a dank reminder of the dangers of aging infrastructure beneath the city’s busy streets.

The rushing water was only a few inches deep in the street, but videos posted on social media showed floodwater cascading into the Times Square subway station down stairs and through vents. The water turned the trenches that carry the subway tracks into mini rivers and soaked the train platforms.

Water leaking from a broken pipe in Times Square (Marc A. Hermann/MTA, via AP)

It took DEP crews about an hour to find the source of the leak and shut off the water supply, said Rohit Aggarwala, commissioner of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection.

The excavation left a large hole and muddy mess at a city intersection where workers dug with heavy equipment to reach the broken section of pipeline.

Surrounding streets were open at rush hour, but subway service has been suspended across much of Manhattan on the 1, 2 and 3 lines, which run directly under the broken pipe. The service was restored with delays around noon.

Only two local companies ran out of water at the start of the working day, Aggarwala said.

New York City has about 10,900 kilometers of water mains (enough pipes to stretch from Times Square to Tokyo) and has spent $1.9 billion in the past three years to upgrade outdated water and sewer lines. Breaks happen somewhere in the city almost every day, though the city said last year’s 402 water main breaks were the second lowest on record and better than average for a US city when taken into account. account the size of the system.

A worker stuck on the flooded tracks of the Times Square subway station (Marc A. Hermann / MTA, via AP)

Cast iron pipes used as the city’s water mains in the late 19th century, like the one that broke, were known for their durability, but even they have a typical lifespan of 120 years.

In addition to old water and sewer pipes and subway tunnels, the ground beneath Manhattan also contains a steam power system and an electrical system that rely on components buried many decades ago.

Sometimes breakdowns can be spectacular. In 2007, an 83-year-old steam pipeline exploded near Grand Central Terminal, sending a huge geyser of boiling steam and mud into the air, engulfing a crane and killing one person.

(With information from AP)

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