Water main that erupted into geyser was vulnerable beforehand, Montreal says

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The city of Montreal knew the water main that broke near the Jacques-Cartier Bridge on Friday, flooding nearby homes and businesses, was vulnerable and almost due to be inspected again.

Speaking to reporters near the site of the break, Montreal’s director of water services said the pipe in question was last inspected in 2017 or 2018 and was “under surveillance” ever since for showing signs of deteriorating.

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“The information we had was that we could wait until the next phase of inspections,” Chantal Morissette said, standing before the large crater left behind. “But the pipe burst before, so the corrosion was more advanced than we had suspected.”

Morissette would not confirm what condition the pipe was in at the time of the last inspection. She said it is the norm for pipes of its kind to be inspected every five to seven years.

If authorities had information the pipe was at imminent risk of bursting, Morissette added, the city would have cut it off from the network, as it has done in the past with other vulnerable pipes.

“It’s always a shock when a pipe bursts like that,” Morissette added. “But that’s why we have a preventive inspection program, to do our best to stop it before it happens.”

The nearly two-metre-wide pipe was installed in 1985 and was part of the city’s drinking water network. The city is still investigating what caused it to burst.

The break originated on René-Lévesque Blvd., east of De Lorimier Ave., around 5:45 a.m. on Friday. A geyser of water shot several feet into the air over the course of the morning, flooding about 50 homes and 20 businesses.

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Roughly 100 people needed to leave their homes and many spent the weekend cleaning up the mess and damage caused by the water. In all, 16 households requested housing help from the Red Cross.

A since-ended boil-water advisory was also put into effect for parts of the city’s eastern boroughs.

Speaking alongside Morissette on Monday, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante said she understands the last weeks have been challenging for residents with the flooding caused by the remnants of post-tropical storm Debby and now the water main break.

Plante said more than 3,300 private buildings or households on the island were affected by the flooding, in addition to 60 municipal buildings.

She reminded people who suffered damages that they have two weeks to file claims with the city. Asked about the city’s legal liability for the water main break, Plante noted it’s too soon to know since the city is still investigating what went wrong.

Both Morissette and Plante stressed the damage caused by the main break could have been worse if improvements to the city’s water infrastructure weren’t done in recent years.

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As an example, they pointed to how the city rebuilding the Rosemont reservoir allowed for water service to not be interrupted on Friday.

“We avoided a much greater disaster,” Plante later wrote on social media. “Without (the reservoir), Montreal’s east end would have run dry.”

Morissette added that improvements to the network in recent years have reduced the number of water main breaks in Montreal by 50 per cent.

City crews have started work to reopen the stretch of René-Lévesque Blvd. where the break happened, but repairing the pipe itself will take longer as the city needs to order the required pieces.

The type of pipe in question is known to have a shorter lifespan than the older pipes in the city’s network, Morissette said.

Overall, however, she said 90 per cent of the city’s water infrastructure is in good condition and the other 10 per cent is under constant surveillance.

jfeith@postmedia.com

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