Freeze Damages Park Pipes
Systems Casualties Of Frigid Winter
Little did Santa Fe parks crews know the surprises, and headaches, that awaited them this spring.
More than three months after a cold snap caused more than 1,000 residential water pipes and meters to freeze, city workers are discovering municipal irrigation systems didn't emerge unscathed, either.
In fact, hundreds of feet of the plastic PVC pipe that carries water to the sprinklers that keep local parks green cracked due to the deep freeze and are being replaced. While most main lines have been repaired by now, crews are still in the process of determining the full extent of the problem.
"You don't know you have a break until you turn on the main line," explained Fabian Chavez, director of the city's Parks Division.
As water is flushed through the system, he said, each new spiral crack— the sign of frozen water damage— can be located. Any damaged sections must be fully replaced.
It's a time-consuming process that's led to more than 50 feet of underground pipe having to be dug up and replaced at Cathedral Park, to name just one of the dozens of locations where the delayed impact is being felt.
At Torreon Park, just off West Alameda Street, crews worked Monday to gauge the extent of the damage. They plan to bring in a backhoe today to excavate a section that's at least 11 feet long.
"Nobody expected this," said Patricio Lopez, a parks equipment operator who was surveying the scene. "Once we fix this, who knows what else might be broken?"
Added Javier Talavera, a senior maintenance worker, "Hopefully, that's it."
Driven by temperatures that dipped below zero and hovered over northern New Mexico for an extended time period, the frost level this winter penetrated far more than usual, to about 30 inches below ground in most areas.
Most of the broken pipes are between 12 and 18 inches underground, and Chavez said some aging sections of pipe didn't have an adequate draining system, which likely contributed to their demise.
This fall, he plans to pressurize the repaired parks irrigation pipes in an attempt to drive out all remaining moisture.
Though crews have fixed all main line breaks, some problem spots persist along the ends of the line and in connecting pieces of pipe.
"We're still having a few issues here and there," Chavez said.
Chavez added there's been no damage done to trees or grass in the affected parks because it's still early in the year and hot weather hasn't hit Santa Fe yet.
"This cool weather has been a blessing," he said.
But after a frigid, problematic January that prompted the city to re-examine how public complaints are handled and forced water crews to work 14-hour shifts to fix the problems, the parks division is getting its dose of Mother Nature's ruthlessness.
"A lot of people say, 'What can water do?' '' Lopez said Monday under bright blue April skies. "You'd be surprised."
