A main water line near Weber State University’s Elizabeth Hall broke in the early morning on Jan. 22, flooding classes on the first floor and offices on the second.
First floor classes were moved upstairs as cleanup took place and returned to their normal rooms on Jan. 24.
According to the faculty Mark Halverson, director of Campus Planning & Construction at WSU, faculty offices will take longer to repair, but he hopes to have it finished by Jan. 29.
The cause for the water line breaking was not determined as of Jan. 23. According to Halverson, the cause of the flooding was from a broken water pipe that feeds to an old fire hydrant between Elizabeth hall and Tracy Hall, which custodial staff discovered at 11 p.m. on Jan. 21.
“The water was immediately contained to just a small portion of the second floor,” Halverson said. “The next morning, the water found its way into the drain below Elizabeth hall and surfaced through the lower floor concrete.”
Halverson and WSU staff worked with Utah Disaster Kleenup, a Draper-based company that focuses on disaster cleanup and restoration. The crew managed to isolate the damage to flooring, sheet rock and some millwork on Jan. 23.
“We added new isolation valves to our campus water system,” Halverson said. “It will allow us to restore water service to all campus buildings while we make the other repairs to the broken fire hydrant piping.”
According to Halverson, the costs for the repair to the break or the damage have yet to be determined.
