Street Workers Damaged our Water Line

[litleclay]

Hey all!

I live on a main state road in utah and a large construction company has been putting in a new massive gas line. It is going to be running directly below our sidewalk.

Where they came to our water main they were digging around it by hand with a shovel and hit it. The pipe is galvanized steel and is , my guess, 40-60 years old. It didn't shatter or crack, but from what I'm told a chunk was knocked off and my wife got a video of water spraying everywhere.

They attached a clamp, but the line is still dripping a small amount. We were planning on replacing this line eventually (owned the house for a year - lots of other projects in line before this one) - but my questions is is there any liability on the part of the contracted company doing the work or since my pipe was so old am I s.o.l? I've tried contacting the city, but they're going to be filling the hole today and tomorrow morning, so I feel like I'm a bit limited on time.

Thanks for your insight guys!

 

[litleclay]

Looks like they're a good honest company. They're replacing our water line about 20 feet up until almost where it enters the house... we didn't even have to ask.

I am concerned about the steel be cut,threaded, and joined with the pex they're putting in... not sure if that's warranted or not.

 

[havasu]

I don't know much about PEX, but going underground with it would cause me concern. Make sure it is rated for burying underground.

 

[phishfood]

To the best of my knowledge, most codes accept PEX underground.

If the galvanized is so old and rotten that a shovel can damage it, I would also be concerned about it being cut and threaded. A Dresser coupling might be a better choice.

 

[Chris]

I run my company the same way, If I damage a pipe like that we do the proper repair and not just bandage it. I would also be slightly concerned about how they connect but just think of it as a good upgrade at no cost to you. A lot of companies would just leave that clamp on and try to take off like it never happened.

 

[Chris]

Havasu it is just a CA thing that we don't accept it out here.

 

[LiQuId]

Consider that if they are replacing that much of the pipe free of charge that it may be in good intrest to pay to have the remainder of the line entering your house done and would likely be cheap since they are opening it up anyways.

I would also suggest main shutoff and prv done at this time, this leave only the piping downstream ( in the house ) as original and could be a much later upgrade.

glad to hear theyre no walking away .

 

[havasu]

OK, thanks Chris. I was just told it was a no-no, but forgot we live in Commiefornia.

 

[Chris]

OK, thanks Chris. I was just told it was a no-no, but forgot we live in Commiefornia.

We are ahead and behind the times out here. We don't work on logic but whatever gets passed good or bad.

 

[litleclay]

Thanks for the input everyone.

As a quick update - I agree that it would be worth it to replace the whole line, however the company is unwilling. They traditionally do not do any kind of residential work so they are avoiding it if they can. If for some reason the connection point does not hold they will replace the entire line. I'm going to try again on Monday (the supervisor of our block is super friendly) but I figure it'll be a long shot.

Even if they don't this is a nice bit of luck for us as we're currently renovating our basement and all the galvenized steel inside will be replaced. The main water line was going to be done after everything else - probably next summer. Now I don't have to hire a plumber (licensed plumber has to hook the new line to the water meter) or tear up any concrete. Its just a matter of digging up 10 or so feet of dirt and connecting the line. Happy day.

@Liquid - we have a ball valve in the wall right inside the house, but not a PRV. Are you recommending one outside as well, or replace the inside valve with a prv?

 

[phishfood]

As long as you don't have water pressure that gets above 80 PSI, most codes don't require a PRV. I think that Liquid meant to replace any existing PRV while you were about it.

 

[dhayden]

I have to agree, before you go about proclaiming how everything turned well for both of you guys, it would still be really important to consider how the change in materials happened and if indeed those materials are good for options that are to be put underground.

You would not want to lose everything when they have already piled things up which would cost you even more problems and dough to get everything fixed.