Mismapped water line will cause Brookfield water shutdown

Michael Roknick, The Herald, Sharon, Pa.
·2 min read

Aug. 20—BROOKFIELD — While 30 feet isn't a massive distance, it's more than enough to cause a shutdown Monday night for over 400 Brookfield water system customers.

A&H Tank Services is building a new gas station with a convenience store at the Brookfield Plaza along Warren-Sharon Road, in front of the former site of Valley View Department Store. The company received a detailed map, showing the location of underground water lines, from Trumbull County Sanitary Engineers.

But Tuesday, when crews began digging with a backhoe, they hit a metal pipe. and that's where problems began.

Contractors are often blamed for dinging up utility lines on projects causing outages. But that isn't the case here, said Ron Watson, water superintendent for Trumbull County Sanitary Engineers.

"We gave the contractor the map we had showing where the water lines were," Watson said.

Turns out the map was off — 30 feet off. Fortunately the water line wasn't ruptured.

It turns out this area once had a private water system going back 70 years. The private system eventually was folded into the public system, and all the documents were turned over to the county's sanitary engineers department.

"The map wasn't good," Watson said. "The contractor notified us immediately."

To prevent damage from current and future construction, county engineers are going to reroute the lines. This means there will be a controlled shutdown to nearby water customers from 9 p.m Monday to midnight.

"There's a good chance we can get it done quicker," Watson said.

Once work is completed, the lines will be flushed which may reduce water pressure until noon Tuesday. Customers also may see water discoloration but it will be safe to drink and no boiling is required, Watson said.

Wiping the sweat off his brow Friday afternoon, Ahmed Khalid took measure of the situation. An employee of A&H, Khalid said the company continued to work on parts of the project that doesn't interfere with the water lines.

But he was taken aback that the map they were given could be so wrong.

"This was 30 feet off," Khalid said. "I mean, 30 feet — 30 feet off. This was really way off."

Monday's water system shutdown will affect residents from:

— Warren-Sharon Road from Bedford Road to Brookfield Avenue

— Yankee Run Road from Lincoln Street to Ohio Street

— Lincoln Street from Yankee Run Road to Sharon Hogue Road

— All of Golf Drive, Wintergreen Drive and Spring Road

— All of Hills Creek Road

— The Valley View neighborhood: Valley View Drive, Lynita Drive, Crestwood Drive, Lee Road, Springdale Drive, Sunnydell Drive, Northwood Drive and Wildwood Drive.