Chilled water pipes burst, flood Harper-Schramm-Smith By Sarah Baker Assignment Reporter During last week’s extended period of 90-degree temperatures, most people would have thought that a flood of cold water sounded like.a good idea. , .. - ; But that wasn’t the case for stu dents in the Harper-Schramm-Smith residence halls,, In two separate incidents last weekv chilled water pipes beneath the complex burst, flooding the underground tunnels linking the buildings and shorting out the entire complex’s air conditioning system. The second break in the HSS chilled water line happened Sunday afternoon. The first break occurred Thursday.University Housing direc tor Doug Zatechka said the pipes around campus residence halls are having some problems. “Soon we are going to have to start looking at replacing all the pipes around the halls,” Zatechka said. “But it is just ungodly expen sive.” Zatechka estimated the cost of patching the pipes at about $7,000 to $8,000. Replacing the entire system would be much more expensive. “I would guessft at hundreds of thousands of dollars,” he said. “Maybe eveninto the millions.” For now, the pipes are being fixed with patches and clamps, Gary Thalken, facility systems manager, said. The water, which was about 50 degrees, gushed up through drains in the basement and out of the walls, causing about 4 inches of water to collect in the tunnels between the buildings. HSS student assistants, resi dence directors and maintenance workers cleaned up the water for about three hours Sunday after noon.HSS maintenance director Mike Kansier said the cause of the pipes breaking was ground move ment. “The forces of the ground mov ing cause the pipes to shift,” Kansier said. “We had two lateral shears in the pipes, and in the second break, the water came up through the floor.” Kansier said in both of these incidents, acidic soil causing corro sion in the pipes was not the cause of the breaks. “It is partially true that there is corrosion in some of the under 66 Eventually these pipes could cause more problems. They are almost 30years oldr Mike Kansier HSS maintenance director ground pipes because of naturally acidic soil,” he said. “But in this case, that was not the cause.” Kansier said in his opinion some of the lines should be considered for replacement. “Eventually these pipes could cause more problems,” he said. “They are almost 30 years old.” Thalken said clamps have been installed to prevent these types of breaks in the pipes. “There should be no more prob lems with these pipes,” Thalken said. “With these clamps, the pipes should be able to withstand ground move ment without breaking.” i I , Ryan THURSDAYS 250 Tacos with purchase of a drink jjj 27th & Holdrege ; Keno, * p\ I Jrime \i TIME 227 North 9th • Haymarket District 50