Monday, January 22, 2001
The University Daily Kansan
Section A·Page 5
City reluctant to fix pipe problems
By Amanda Beglin
writer@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
The water main near 10th and Massachusetts streets that ruptured Thursday night has some Lawrence officials concerned about the city's recent problems with main breaks and leaks.
Senior project inspector Kevin Carr said harsh weather and old age may have caused the main to burst.
"There was a failure in the well of the pipe, and a piece just blew out," Carr said. "But it's 114 years old. The changes in the weather and extreme temperatures make the ground move, so
any weak place in the system is a place it could break."
While repairs to water mains would cause only a slight disruption to Massachusetts Street businesses, the city hesitates to impose construction on the downtown area, he said.
"We've had a rehab program going for years," Carr said. "And we've replaced old pipes with new lines. But we've put downtown on the back burner."
Carr said age and water quality determined the order in which water mains were replaced.
"Some mains aren't lined and may have rust problems," he said.
The section of pipe that broke
Thursday didn't splintered since it originally was laid in 1886, possibly making the section ripe with rust.
Carr said replacing the mains along Massachusetts Street would mean closing off portions of the street to traffic, but shops and restaurants would remain open.
"It doesn't disrupt all that much." Carr said. "Much of it is confined to a small area. The only time it's really spread out is when we're testing the new lines before putting them in the system. At cross streets, excavations are made to connect the lines. It looks like a wide area, but it's not."
When water lines were replaced last semester on Crescent Road
near the Chi Omega fountain, Carr said the city's department of utilities notified Jayhawk Bookstore, the University of Kansas and KU on Wheels to ensure the repairs could be made with minimal interruption to campus traffic flow.
David Woosley, Lawrence transportation and traffic engineer, said a Massachusetts Street water project would not happen anytime soon.
It's always a possibility, but probably not for a long time," Woosley said. "It won't close until it's unsafe for traffic to travel through."
- Edited by Courtney Craigmile
From left to right: Heather Greene, Des Moines, Iowa, senior, Mary Tabakin, Emporia freshman, Brice McIlroy, Tapelka junior, Jason Lewis, Anthony freshman, Justin Mills, Lansing senior and Jeni Gottschalk, Leavenworth junior were in one six alternative Winter Break groups. Photo courtesy of Rustine Morgan
Students devote winter break to service
By Sarah Warren
Writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Jennil Gottschalk relaxed during winter break by ripping out 25 miles of barbwire fence in the tiny town of Elgin, Ariz.
ine Leavenworth junior was one of the nearly 60 participants in this year's Alternative Winter Break program who traveled to six sites around the United States for weeklong community service projects.
Seven other University of Kansas students joined Gothschalk on the trip to Elgin, while other participants went to cities in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Louisiana and Arizona.
Each of the trips had different focuses, including education, conservation, hunger and homelessness and multiculturalism, said Gottschalk, a co-coordinator of the program.
Gottschalk's trip was devoted to conservation. She said that her group had the double duty of maintaining an 8,000-acre ranch and keeping the conservatory efforts animal-friendly.
"It was a research ranch, so if cows got in, it would really mess up the research they were trying to do," she said.
Gottschalk said that in Arizona, the responsibility for keeping cattle off property fell to the resident, not the cattle owner. The ranch owner in Elgin had previously done that with barbwire. However, the wire tended to injure deer and rabbits that would try to go over or under the fence. The volunteers installed an animal-friendly version of the fence — one that had the top and bottom wires unbarbed.
While Gottschalk got her hands soiled yanking out 50-year-old barbwire, the group of education volunteers played with kids in Phoenix.
Melissa Cline, Wichita senior, was a co-site leader for the Phoenix program. She said that the 10 people involved on her trip aided teachers in classes at a bilingual elementary school and middle school.
"Some of the kids were there because they only speak Spanish and need to learn English, and then other kids only speak English and want to
learn Spanish." Cline said.
Cline said the amount of Spanish taught in the classrooms decreased as the grade levels increased, so the volunteers were assigned to work with different grade levels according to their Spanish-speaking skills.
Gottschalk said she hoped this break's volunteers as well as newcomers would apply later in the semester to go on the 2002 trip.
"It's an incredible learning experience that you can't get on campus," Gottschalk said.
Edited by Joshua Richards
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