A water main break occurred on the corner of 12th Street and Highland Avenue in Fort Sanders early Monday morning. The first report of the incident came from senior political science major Caroline Gray who woke up to the sound of trash cans toppling over. She looked out her window to find the cause of the noise: water rushing down the street.
“It was going for at least two hours,” Gray said. “When I called them, it seemed like they didn’t know.”
Gray said that her first worry pertained to how her water supply would be affected.
Cortney Harris, a communications representative for the Knoxville Utilities Board, has confirmed that there should not be any customer impacts related to water service.
The same cannot be said about the state of students’ cars. Water at high levels in the streets moved Gray’s roommate’s car and damaged its bumper.
The Knoxville Police Department has asked students parked on the affected section of 12th Street to move their vehicles. Parking is already limited in Fort Sanders, and the house of six girls relies on that street parking. Winter weather conditions make the situation even more challenging, with some spots being too icy to safely use.
When asked what the affected students should do about parking, Gray said, “Pray.”
After Gray’s phone call early this morning, KUB sent crews to “valve off the water main” and stop the flow of water. Once that is repaired, KUB said, they can begin to get the level back open. Crews on the ground are working quickly to minimize the impact.
Harris shared that, as temperatures rise above freezing, ground shifts can occur.
“So anytime you have an extended period of extremely cold weather that causes the ground to shift … and damage to customer pipes can happen, and especially today, as we get into above freezing temperatures, those ground shifts are going to happen,” Harris said. “But we expect those will happen again, and so that’s when these things can continue to happen.”
“We expect that the roadways, everything will be complete and the roadways will be back open tomorrow,” Harris said.
To remain safe until then, Harris recommends that inhabitants of Fort Sanders take the appropriate route around the area and not get too close to the site. The current road closures include 12th Street between Forest and Highland avenues and Highland Avenue between 11th and 13th streets. Anyone with further questions can call KUB at 865-524-2911.
