By Dylan Bradley/editor-in-chief
NE Campus facilities staff worked through the night to repair a water main break.
Both science buildings and the physical education building were closed and classes canceled until noon Sept. 9.
The break occurred where a 12-inch and 10-inch line came together and was fixed by digging up the broken section of the pipe and replacing it.
Six years ago to the day, NE Campus was closed for two days when a cooling line broke.
NE facilities manager John Tilley said it’s typical for the time of year, and it’s impossible to know exactly when the leak began.
“It’s down very deep,” Tilley said. “It’s probably been leaking for a couple of days.”
He said a leak that deep in the ground is usually noticeable once the ground becomes saturated.
“As it leaks, slowly the ground gets saturated and the water actually starts coming up,” he said. “It comes up to the surface and starts running off.”
NE Campus president Allen Goben said this is something that happens once in a while.
“The ground moves a little bit through the heat and cooling, expansion and contraction,” he said.
Students were not alerted to the closure aside from signs on building doors, frustrating some and delighting others.
NE student George Raheb said his teacher asked him to come in early for an 8 a.m. class.
“I’m here for no reason right now,” Raheb said. “I’m just wandering the campus trying to find something productive to do.”
NE student Makenna Ramsey said she gets to campus early so she can find good parking.
“I’m four months pregnant,” she said. “This 50-pound backpack and walking from NRH20 [parking across the street] is really hard.”
Meanwhile, NE student Jake Lewis said he thought the building closure was awesome.
“It’s quite the blessing because I’m kind of running behind for my lab,” he said.
Staff fixing the broken main worked from 6:30 p.m. Monday to 5 p.m. Tuesday.
Tilley said it is not out of the ordinary to have water main breaks because of how old the pipes are.
“This campus was built in 1968,” he said. “It’s just normal for the state of Texas.”
