Last Friday morning, a water valve underneath Third and Broadway broke, with the cause determined as a corroded bolt under the valve.
Now, Bill Beasley, Pittsburg director of public works, said the city would dig up another valve in an isolated area to take a look at the bolts.
"If we find that the bolts are all deteriorating, then, before the downtown project, we will replace all of those bolts," Beasley said.
Beasley said the corroded bolts were the ones hooked into the bonnet of the valve.
"They seem to be reacting to the soil or the rock or whatever is around there," Beasley said. "Replacing them with stainless steel bolts will ensure that we don't have any trouble."Beasley said the city had struggled with a certain type of valve in the past, but said these problems were unrelated because they weren't the same valves.
"It's sort of a strange deal for us," Beasley said. "So we're looking at all aspects."
Beasley said if the other bolts had deteriorated, removing them would cause no conflicts with the Downtown Streetscape project.
"All the water lines are in the street," Beasley said. "So it wouldn't interfere with sidewalk work and everything can proceed while doing this work."
Beasley said the city wanted to find out about any problems before doing the KLINK project which would pave Broadway. He said the project wouldn't be too expensive because the city would be able to tear up a small amount of street where the valves are located rather than the street running a full water line.
"It's pretty much on a cross in that they are pretty close together," Beasley said. "So there should be a limited amount of excavation, even if there are a number of those to do."
Beasley said the bolts on the flanges were all fine, meaning the only problem bolts were the ones on the bonnet.
"Right now, we just know that it's a problem at that intersection," Beasley said. "I don't think it's a widespread problem.
"We just want to make sure," Beasley said. "One of the reasons we are doing such a diligent job is that the last thing you want to do is put the pavement down and have a water line blow out. We'll try to solve it before we get to that point."
Kevin Flaherty can be reached at kevin.flaherty@morningsun.net or by calling 231-2600 Ext. 134