Water main on Aspen’s Hyman Ave. ruptures

The water main under the East Hyman Avenue pedestrian mall experienced a circumferential crack on Thursday night that caused it to rupture.

Ryan Loebach, deputy utilities director for Aspen, told The Aspen Times via email Friday that changing weather increases the chance that a pipeline will break, in addition to pipeline age, installation conditions, and depth.

“Unfortunately, water pipelines are not perfect and do break from time to time,” Loebach said.

Because of the rupture and leak, the 400 block of East Hyman Avenue was “without typical water service” while the water main was being repaired, according to Loebach. He did note, however, that all businesses that were open Thursday were able to remain open for the duration of the repair despite typical water service.

Crews decreased water supply in the impacted pipeline to maintain sanitary conditions of the pipeline during the break and applied an engineered repair clamp to the leaking water main. He confirmed this is the standard practice in a case like this and the pipe does not need to be replaced.

The pipe was repaired and water service restored by 9 p.m. Despite the quick fix, Loebach emphasized this is an issue that the city continues to face.

“Pipeline breaks are a concern because they waste precious water resources, impact the public and water customers, and expend city resources,” he said. “City staff is actively working towards replacing aging infrastructure through capital improvement projects.”