A main water line broke over the weekend located under the concrete pathway west of the Health Center and east of the Physical Plant causing the closure of Einstein Bros Bagels as well as the restrooms in the Health Center and McWherter Library on Monday.
Upchurch Plumbing, an independent contractor brought in to assist with repairs, and University of Memphis Physical Plant workers are finalizing repairs to the water line, and water service has been restored to McWherter Library and the Health Center as of 10:30 a.m. Monday.
“We became aware of the break in the water line at around 3 a.m. on Sunday,” said Joel Mooney, director of operations at the Physical Plant. “We began working immediately, and realized that due to the depth and size of the water line, we needed assistance from an outside contractor.”
The water line is six inches in diameter and located eight feet below the ground, which required cutting through concrete to access hence the need for an outside contractor.
“I am glad we were able to get Upchurch Plumbing to work with us on the repair efforts,” said Mooney.
In addition to the closures of Einstein Bros Bagels and the restrooms, the Health Center was unable to conduct any of their normal lab tests until later on Monday afternoon.
“Normally, we are able to conduct many lab tests — such as strep tests and CBCs, or complete blood counts,” said Jacqueline De Fouw, Health Educator at the Heath Center. “But today, we were unable to do any of our normal testing until the water line was repaired around 1 p.m.”
The crews began the clean-up effort on Monday afternoon. However, the affected walkway is not expected to be fully repaired for at least another couple of weeks.
“About seven feet of the pedestrian path will be closed off for the next couple of weeks during the repairs,” Mooney said. “We’ve put up barricades around the jobsite. Our main goal is to protect the students.”
Over the weekend there was a water line break located west of the Health Center and east of the Physical Plant. Due to the water line breaking, the bathrooms in the Mcwherter Library will be closed along with Einstein Bros Bagels.
