water main break

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Map Tracks Water Main Breaks — A new map created by Arlington’s Dept. of Environmental Services shows the location of the dozens of water main breaks in Arlington County since Nov. 1. “It has been a particularly brutal winter season in Arlington,” DES said via Twitter.  [Google Maps]

Local History Archives Closing Temporarily — “Beginning February 1, the Center for Local History’s off-site Community Archives, located at the Woodmont Community Center, will temporarily close for a renovation project.” The archives are not open to the public but are available to researchers on a by-request basis. [Arlington County]

County to Release Amazon Bid Details — Win or lose, after Amazon’s HQ2 process concludes Arlington County plans to release details of its bid for the tech and online retail giant. Arlington is now among those in the Top 20 for the second corporate headquarters. [InsideNova]

Fake ID Stat from ACPD — Bouncers caught 703 fake IDs in Clarendon last year, according to stats from the Arlington County Police Department. Extra vigilance from establishments like Don Tito and Whitlow’s helps “maintain Clarendon has a safe place to enjoy nightlife and entertainment,” says ACPD. [Twitter]

Nearby: DCA Noise Case in Federal Court — “The three-year battle between residents in Northwest Washington and the Federal Aviation Administration over noise from flights at Reagan National Airport is now in the hands of a federal appeals court… A ruling, which could take several months, will be closely watched by communities across the country grappling with similar issues tied to the FAA’s efforts to modernize the nation’s air traffic system.” [Washington Post]

Flickr pool photo by Kevin Wolf

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

APS Named Best School System in Va. — Arlington Public Schools is the best public school system in Virginia, according to a new set of state-by-state rankings. APS received an A+ rating for academics, diversity and teachers, and an A rating for health and safety. [Business Insider]

DES Scrambles to Deal With Water Main Breaks — Staff from Arlington’s Dept. of Environmental Services had their hands full again over the holiday weekend, dealing with numerous water main breaks in various parts of the county. “A number of Arlington residents experienced low pressure/no water issues” as a result of the breaks, DES said. At least one significant break, along Wilson Blvd in the Bluemont neighborhood, is still being repaired as of Tuesday morning. [Facebook, Twitter]

Marymount Grad Helps Save Family — A Marymount University graduate, now a law enforcement officer in North Carolina, helped to rescue a family from a house fire last month. [The Pilot]

Bill Could Allow Instant Runoff Elections — A bill proposed by Del. Patrick Hope, currently under consideration in the Virginia General Assembly, would allow the Arlington County Board to mandate instant-runoff voting in local races. [InsideNova]

Nearby: Old Town Church Now a Basilica — “The Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship declared St. Mary Church in Alexandria a minor basilica, Bishop Michael F. Burbidge announced to parishioners during Mass [on] Jan. 14.” [Arlington Catholic Herald, Twitter]

Flickr pool photo by Kevin Wolf

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Bar Owner Trolled By ‘Catfish’ Account — Someone is impersonating Scott Parker, co-owner of A-Town, Don Tito, Barley Mac and G.O.A.T., on social media, in an apparent attempt to damage his reputation. The “catfish” recently sent a journalist a profanity-laced rant that encouraged her to kill herself. [Washingtonian, Twitter]

Columbia Pike Water Main Break — Crews are currently working to repair a water main break on the 5500 block of Columbia Pike. The street is partially blocked and some 50-100 water customers have their service affected by the break. [Twitter]

Local Mother Grapples With Son’s Mental Illness — “The night of March 31, 2017, he became so inconsolable, screaming and weeping, that she called the police and had him involuntarily hospitalized at an Arlington hospital. He stayed two weeks, but because he is an adult, and because a hospital must release people from involuntary care when it no longer believes they meet commitment standards, doctors discharged him.” [Washington Post]

Wardian Strikes Again — “A little over a week ago, [ultramarathoner Michael] Wardian pulled off one of his most challenging back-to-backs yet, running the Pikes Peak Marathon, featuring 7,815 feet of elevation gain and an equal amount of loss on a rugged mountain course that tops out at 14,115 feet – in 6 hours, 2 minutes and 55 seconds, mere hours after finishing tenth in the Leadville 100 in 20 hours, 18 minutes and 57 seconds.” [Medium]

County Testing New ‘ePlan’ Payments — Arlington County is seeking users to test its new electronic payments system for those filing Building Permits, Land Disturbing Activity (LDA) Permits and Civil Engineering Plans (CEP) online. The system is likely to be seen as progress by those who have previously critiqued the county’s cumbersome permitting process. [Arlington County]

Last Call for Christmas Tree Recycling — Friday is the last day for recycling Christmas trees via curbside pickup in Arlington. ‘Recycled’ trees will be turned into mulch. [Arlington County]

County Crews Have Repaired Dozens of Water Main Breaks Since Mid-December

By ARLnow.com
1/3

Arlington County crews have been working through holidays and frigid wind chill temperatures to repair dozens of water main breaks over the past three weeks.

Since Dec. 17, there have been 38 water main breaks, which have affected the water service of up to 1,500 residents, according to Arlington Dept. of Environmental Services spokeswoman Kathryn O’Brien. Five water main breaks happened New Year’s weekend, prompting crews to work through what is a holiday for many.

The county was especially swamped with water main repair calls this past weekend, the last hurrah of the recent Arctic cold snap. Of the 38 water main breaks over three weeks, 12 have occurred since Jan. 6. Of those, all but three have been successfully repaired, O’Brien said. (Three were still being repaired as of 3 p.m.)

DES officials say freezing temperatures create stress on water and sewer infrastructure, increasing the chance of leaks.

“When ground temperatures drop to the water main depth, the pipe material gets cold, but the water temp drops at a slower rate due to its movement,” explained Arlington Water, Sewer and Streets Bureau Chief Harry Wang. “Then the temperature difference of the pipe and water cause the contraction and expansion in the cast iron pipe because part of the metal was contracting due to cold soil and part was in water above freezing. Exceeding the tolerance results the cracks.”

Arlington has five repair crews — each with 5-6 members — available around the clock to repair water main breaks, O’Brien said, and they’ve been busy. However, they also have the gear and training to do their work in all conditions.

“Our crews work through all types of weather to repair water main breaks and ensure that residents have access to water regardless of the weather,” she said. “This means crews work through freezing temperatures, snow, rain and high winds. Crews have protective gear to stay warm and dry, take frequent breaks to warm up and follow other protocols to ensure their safety.”

Here are just a couple of the water main repairs taking place today:

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Residents Urged to Report Water Main Breaks — “With colder weather in the offing, Arlington government officials are asking the public to serve as a first line of defense against catastrophic water-main breaks… County residents who see a problem are asked to immediately call the 24-hour emergency hotline at (703) 228-6555.” [InsideNova]

Remy’s New Parody Video — “Arlington Rap” guy Remy released a new music video on Halloween, a “Thriller” political parody called “Trigger.” [YouTube]

Airbags, Doors Stolen from Car — Thieves broke a window of a car in a Crystal City apartment building parking lot overnight this past Friday and proceeded to steal two of its doors and the airbag. Police said it was “clearly the work of professionals.” [Fox 5]

Preserving the Arlington Woods — Ecologist Joan Maloof is working to preserve the remaining 12 acres of the once 600 acre Arlington Woods on the grounds of Arlington National Cemetery, along with other old-growth forests. [Washington Post]

Programs at Arlington County Jail — Inmates have access to a number of programs during their typically short stays at the Arlington County Detention Facility in Courthouse, including English language training, special education, chaplain and library services. For some of the instructors, running their programs is just as rewarding for them as it is for the inmates. [Falls Church News-Press]

Glebewood Neighborhood Profiled — “When house hunters encounter the Glebewood neighborhood in Arlington County, they tend to express admiration for its location, schools, amenities and transportation. That the townhouses, duplexes, apartments and some single-family homes are reasonably priced for North Arlington only adds to the appeal.” [Washington Post]

Photos: ‘Gusher’ Water Main Break in Ballston

By ARLnow.com
1/5

(Updated at 10:40 a.m.) A water main break in Ballston resulted in a geyser of water shooting up from N. Taylor Street.

The break happened shortly before 8 a.m. this morning, just north of Fairfax Drive near the Nature Conservancy building. The street was being milled as part of repaving work.

Arlington Dept. of Environmental Services spokeswoman Kathryn O’Brien said the break is affection water service for about 500 customers.

“Crews are repairing the break and are expected to be completed by 5 p.m., barring any complications,” she said.

Update at 3:45 p.m. — Via O’Brien at DES: “The water main has been repaired and water service is being restored to impacted customers. Crews are expected to complete road repairs by 7 p.m. this evening, barring any complications.”

Video courtesy Ron B.

N. Cleveland Street Closed for Water Main Repairs

By Chris Teale

A section of N. Cleveland Street off Lee Highway will be closed until this afternoon as crews make emergency repairs to a water main.

A spokeswoman for the county’s Department of Environmental Services said the repairs on the 1900 block of N. Cleveland Street in the North Highlands neighborhood are being made to a six-inch water main. The spokeswoman said the water for between 50 and 100 customers will be affected.

Repairs are expected to be completed by 3 p.m. The street is closed in the area, with a detour in place.

Photo via John B.

North Rosslyn Residents Hit By Water Outages After Main Break

By Chris Teale
1/5

(Updated 12.55 p.m.) Residents in North Rosslyn have been without water since yesterday (Monday) afternoon after a water main break on N. Scott Street.

Crews from Arlington’s Department of Environmental Services have been making emergency repairs since last night at 1815 N. Scott Street.

A department spokesman said they expect work to be complete and water service restored by 3 p.m. Tuesday, and that the service for 50-100 people has been affected. A traffic detour has been in place in the area, with N. Scott Street closed, including its sidewalks.

The spokesman said a contractor installing a cable drilled through a 16-inch water pipe.

In a post on the North Rosslyn Civic Association’s online forum, local resident Paul Derby said the break came after contractors for Comcast installing fiber in the neighborhood accidentally drilled through the water main.

“Hopefully, Comcast will fully reimburse Arlington County for the cost of these repairs,” Derby wrote. “One wonders how a piece of underground infrastructure as large as this water main could be missed or wrongly interpreted when the utility markings were done.”

Photo No. 1 via Twitter user @lizvanwazer

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Turn Lane Removed from Arlington Mill Drive — There is now only one left turn lane from S. Arlington Mill Drive to southbound S. Walter Reed Drive, after the roadway was reconfigured to remove a second turn lane. Sun Gazette editor Scott McCaffrey writes that the need for the change is unclear but the result has been traffic backing up during peak periods. “It does play into a recurrent theme in A-town: Drivers must suffer,” he writes. [InsideNova]

Water Main Break Near Shirlington — Water main repairs are underway along the 2600 block of S. Arlington Mill Drive, near Shirlington, after a water main break this morning. Some 20-50 customers are affected and repairs are expected to take until around 3 p.m. [Twitter]

North Rosslyn Profiled — The Washington Post has profiled the North Rosslyn neighborhood, finding that many of its residents are “empty nesters, couples with young children and working professionals,” who are attracted to the events, businesses and connectivity that Rosslyn has to offer. [Washington Post]

New Mobile Homepage — We’ve revamped our homepage experience for mobile and tablet users to be more like the desktop homepage experience, with full articles and photos. Do you like the new configuration or wish we could go back to the older, simpler setup? Let us know in the comments.

‘Gusher’ Water Main Break in Fairlington

By ARLnow.com

A water main break is affecting more than 100 customers in the Fairlington neighborhood.

Video of the break, recorded by a local resident and posted on social media, shows a large geyser of water coming up from the middle of the street around 1 p.m. Water was subsequently turned off and crews are now working to repair the burst pipe.

Arlington’s Dept. of Environmental Services says repairs, on the 2800 block of S. Columbus Street, are expected to be complete by 9 p.m. DES says it is also working to repair a second water main break, in the Tara-Leeway Heights neighborhood.

Water Main Break Reported in Fairlington

By ARLnow.com

Dozens of homes in Fairlington are without water pressure this afternoon due to a water main break.

The break was first reported this morning along S. Abingdon Street, between 30th and 31st Street S. Arlington County crews are on scene making repairs, with water service expected to be restored by 8 p.m.

Only one lane of traffic is getting by the work on S. Abingdon Street, according to Arlington Alerts.

Last year Arlington Dept. of Environmental Services crews repaired 203 water main breaks in the county, the department said in a tweet, shortly before tweeting about the Fairlington incident.

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