The cause of the water leak that was detected near Usdan, the library and Pearlman Hall was found on Tuesday, Vice President of Campus Operations Lois Stanley told The Hoot in an email. Stanley said that no more construction will take place.
“The repair that took place on Tuesday—placement of a large clamp over the water main pipe—is permanent,” Stanley wrote in an email to The Hoot. “On Tuesday, our contractor, PW Ryan Co., excavated about 6 feet down in this area and discovered one crack in the water main pipe.”
The break was in the water main pipe serving Usdan, Goldfarb, Farber and Pearlman located under the sidewalk between the side entry to Goldfarb and the main entry to Usdan Dining, according to Stanley.
“Fortunately, the effects were minimal and relatively short in duration. There was water puddling in the area of the leak from Monday morning until mid-day on Tuesday. Facilities Services closed off the walkways so that the crew and vehicles needed for the repair could work a safe distance from pedestrians.” The construction blocked the east entry to Goldfarb Library, one of the west entrances to Usdan and the sidewalk between Usdan and Goldfarb. Stanley said that the Grounds Crew noticed the issue on Monday when the ground in that area was unusually wet and subsequently noticed the puddling of water.
Stanley emailed the Brandeis community on Monday to notify it of the break and following investigation. “Facilities Services was on site through the day investigating the extent and cause of the leak. Exploratory work will continue on Tuesday,” she said in Monday’s email. “Please take care to observe signs cordoning off areas that are part of that work. We will update you about any impact repair work may have on campus facilities.”
She said that they needed to prepare for various scenarios that could have been anything from simple to “complex situations that may have required water to be shut off to the four serviced buildings.” Stanley said that Associate Director of Campus Services Joe Realejo, his Grounds Crew and the rest of Facilities Services had a thorough response on Monday.
