A water main burst on Duke Street Monday morning, Jan. 15, causing a closure of the westbound lanes.
Alison Bibb-Carson, external affairs manager at Virginia American Water, said that the break was due to “a number of factors, not necessarily due to the cold,” although the cold can be a factor. Bibb-Carson added in an email that the water main took “about 10 hours to repair.”
The westbound lane of the road was closed completely for less than three hours, according to Craig Fifer, the director of communications and public information for the City of Alexandria.
Fifer also said that the weather and changes in temperature was a risk to the pipes: “Extreme temperature fluctuations where the temperature would get lower than usual and then rebound dozens of degrees… that is the biggest risk to metal pipes, they expand and contract due to extreme temperature fluctuations.”
The Beatley Central Library was able to open on time this week despite sending out an alert that they would have a delayed opening on Jan. 16 due to a broken water pipe.