Pipe burst in a main water pipe
On 24 May, damage occurred to one of Giessen's largest water pipes in Aulweg.
In the early hours of last Saturday morning, the fire brigade confirmed a suspicion that the water experts from Stadtwerke Giessen (SWG) were already investigating: There was a burst pipe in one of the city's largest water pipes near the Ludwig Uhland School in Aulweg. Large quantities of water escaped through a crack about six metres long. Fortunately, the damage had no impact on the drinking water supply. However, due to the pipe diameter of 600 millimetres and the pressure in the pipe, an extremely large amount of water escaped very quickly. With visible consequences: Due to massive undermining, the carriageway sank within hours. The complex civil engineering work that is now required will take a comparatively long time. "We currently expect the construction work to take five to six weeks," explains Ulli Boos, company spokesperson for Stadtwerke Gießen (SWG).
Bus services affected
The burst pipe in Aulweg is also affecting bus route 10. Due to the necessary full closure of the carriageway, SWG has to divert the buses in both directions via Schubertstraße, Schlangenzahl and Wartweg. As a result, passengers should plan for slightly longer journey times. In addition, route 10 will not be able to serve the "Haydnstraße" and "Paul-Meimberg-Straße" stops until the construction work has been completed. Instead, the buses will stop at the "Finanzamt" stop on Schubertstraße and the "Ludwig-Uhland-Schule" stop on Wartweg.
Dig carefully
The fact that the construction work is taking so long is mainly due to the situation below the surface. It is not only the damaged drinking water transport pipeline that is located here. The water pipes for supplying the neighbourhood, electricity and gas lines and, last but not least, the sewer also run in the immediate vicinity. In order not to cause any further damage here, it is important to act very carefully. "The civil engineering contractors carefully uncover each pipe and support it," says Ulli Boos, describing the procedure. After replacing the defective pipe segment, the workers carefully backfill the pit with sand and gravel to protect the pipes. Only then can they begin to restore the carriageway.
Important to know: SWG is not just replacing the damaged pipe section in its main line. The experts from Lahnstrasse also inspect the local drinking water pipe very carefully. And if they deem it necessary, they also replace sections that are getting on in years.
It is not possible to determine exactly why the pipe burst. Due to the age of the pipe, which was laid in 1967, the SWG experts assume that it was a fatigue fracture caused by mechanical stress.