Soutbound traffic on Bowen Rd. between Meredith Rd. and Dufferin Cres. is expected to be closed for roughly one week after a substantial water main break on the evening of Friday, April 3. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Ian Holmes

burst pipe

‘Catastrophic’ water main break closes portion of Bowen Road, some residents without water

Apr 4, 2020 | 10:49 AM

NANAIMO — A large water main rupture described by a city official as the most significant in recent memory is expected to close southbound traffic on a portion of Bowen Rd for one week.

Bill Sims, Nanaimo’s director of engineering and public works, said a large pipe beneath Bowen Rd. near Dufferin Cres. Friday evening burst, requiring an “urgent response” from their crews.

“Most of the water feeding the north end of the city goes through this main. When this main broke, all of that water that’s normally feeding the north end burst out of ground, ran down Bowen and Boxwood roads.”

Sims said residents in the Crescent View Dr. area temporarily didn’t have water for several hours following the pipe burst, noting thousands of residents were either without water Friday night or had reduced pressure.

“They (city works crews) needed to valve off the system to stop it from leaking, that allowed the rest of the system to restore itself with pressure,” Sims said.

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He said Bowen Rd. southbound between Meredith Rd. and Dufferin Cres will need to be repaved, pointing out built up pressure caused by the surging water lifted asphalt near the source of the break.

Sims said the northbound portion of Bowen Rd. through the area was not damaged and has been reduced to single-lane traffic.

As significant as the water main break was, Sims said it could have been much morse.

“In a lot of ways we were fortunate, low traffic, late of night and minimal damage to private property. However, Bowen Rd. is significantly damaged and that will take some time to repair.”

Sims said no businesses were flooded, noting some commercial properties sustained landscaping damage, while a parking lot and construction site will require repairs.

He said people can still enter the Country Grocer shopping plaza via Dufferin Cres., while neighbouring Bowen Centre can still be accessed by northbound traffic.

Following the rupture just before 7 p.m. Friday, vehicles were seen splashing through the water prior to the road’s closure. The impacted section of Bowen Rd. resembled more of a river than a road, as a steady stream of water rushed past East Wellington Rd., spilling over sidewalks.

Sims said it’s unclear how much their repair cost will be, but said it will be a multi-million dollar fix.

Based on initial viewing Sims believes corrosion concentrated to a specific portion of the long 30 inch wide concrete cylinder pipe.

“As the water leaks it erodes and the hole gets bigger,” Sims said. “We’ve had plans to place a parallel main to this one and it might mean that we need to accelerate those plans.”

He said significantly reduced demand for Bowen Rd. is a silver lining to this significant setback to their water delivery infrastructure.

ian@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes