Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany

The closure affects Radford Street at Fifth Street and Wilkinson Way and also Fifth Street at Weed Place and Radford Street.

The end cap of an older pipeline broke as contracted workers installed a new section of 10-inch pipe to an existing network of water pipes in the area.

According to Ken Latham, engineer technician, Resident Office in Charge of Contracts, the area was scheduled for new pipe replacement at a later date. As contracted workers installed a new section of pipe in another area, the end cap on an older section of the pipe blew off. The water from the ruptured valve flooded the ground at the intersection of Radford Street and Weed Place.

The flooding washed away the soil underneath the streets and caved in the concrete following a path along a man-made drainage ditch.

“It did not cause significant damage, but will require some concrete and surface soil to be replaced,” said Lt. Cmdr. Marc L. Rouleau, public works officer, Installation and Environment Division, MCLB Albany. “When the waterline broke, it boiled out all of the earth around it and washed the soil away. So now you’ve got a giant void where they not only need to repair the joint with the waterline, but they also need to back fill the soil, properly compact it and replace the concrete that had to be cut out.”

Rouleau and Latham both expect the waterline replacement and street repairs to last no more than a few weeks, but they have allotted 30 days for the completed repair.

They said there is a dedicated team of six to seven contractors working on it full time.