Repairs on the Trans-Canada Highway were completed overnight and traffic is back to normal after a broken water main Friday sent water gushing onto the highway, snarling traffic for most of the day.
The rupture caused traffic chaos in the West Shore for much of Friday, with journeys that usually take 20 minutes stretching to more than an hour.
Water gushed onto the Trans-Canada Highway and damaged pavement between Burnside Road West and Helmcken Road, forcing the shutdown of southbound lanes coming into Victoria. Northbound lanes were not affected.
Traffic was backed up for kilometres and spilled onto nearby roads.
The rupture to Capital Regional District water supply main No. 3 happened about 11:50 p.m. Thursday. The main is a 990-millimetre steel pipe that runs with significant flow and pressure, providing water to Saanich, Victoria and Oak Bay, said Ted Robbins, general manager for CRD integrated water services.
Water flow was eased off to avoid damage to the system and was stopped by about 10:30 a.m. Sand and salt was sprinkled in the area because of concerns about ice forming.
Once water flow was stopped, crews began excavating, removing damaged pavement and fabricating a steel coupling to repair the pipe. Welders were in the excavated area to do the repair work by mid-afternoon.
Crews finished pipe repairs in the evening and the main was returned to service. Highway repairs were underway and are expected to be finished in time for the reopening of all three southbound lanes on Saturday morning.
The CRD, Mainroad South Island Contracting and SPR Traffic Services responded shortly after the rupture, with crews working to open one southbound lane for traffic.
Robbins described Friday morning southbound traffic as “crawling.” Vehicles were backed up to West Shore roads adjoining the highway. One Langford motorist reporting that what is usually a five- to 10-minute morning trip from Westhills to David Cameron Elementary School took 45 minutes.
Traffic congestion persisted into the afternoon and evening with just one southbound lane open. At 3 p.m., a car trip from north Langford, near Costco, to downtown Victoria took about 70 minutes; it usually takes about 20 minutes.
Measures taken to deal with traffic issues included closing the Colwood on-ramp and sending vehicles in that area to the Old Island Highway, said Mainroad road manager Stuart Eaton. Traffic was also diverted onto Burnside then to Watkiss Way and Helmcken, he said.
He said the primary problem was in the right lane extending from the on-ramp to the Helmcken exit, where the surface had buckled. Two lanes were closed because it was not immediately clear how much of the road was undermined.
The CRD switched to No. 1 and 2 water mains so municipalities did not have their water cut off.
Customers in Victoria West, Tillicum, Esquimalt and View Royal might notice a temporary drop in water pressure. Because fine sediment in the pipe was disturbed by a sudden change in flow and pressure, tap water could appear turbid. The CRD recommending that taps be allowed to run until the water is clear. The water remains safe to drink, the CRD said in a statement.
Robbins said water that gushed from the ruptured pipe was controlled with the storm-drain system and no properties were affected.
The pipe should not have failed, he said. “The pipe’s approximately 63 years old. We’d expect this type of pipe in this installation to provide in excess of 80 years of service life, so this is certainly premature.
“The pipe itself, the steel, is in very good condition so it is a weld that failed and we’re just going to have to follow up in terms of what may have caused that.”
jwbell@timescolonist.com
kderosa@timescolonist.com
— With Cindy E. Harnett and Carla Wilson
