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Article: Decrepit Water Main Could Blow Anytime Right Under Fifth.(TheFrontPage)
- Article from:
- The New York Observer (New York, NY)
- Article date:
- May 28, 2001
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 The New York Observer. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: John Freeman Gill
Every day, tens of thousands of New Yorkers walk and ride above a 48-inch-wide Victorian-era water main that runs beneath the west side of Fifth Avenue, oblivious to the fact that this big cast-iron pipe under their feet is a brittle relic that has exploded in spectacular fashion three times in the last 11 years. Most recently, in 1998, a major rupture sent several hundred thousand gallons of water cascading through the streets in the area near 19th Street, creating a curb-to-curb sink hole that swallowed up street signs, parking meters and a 1984 Buick Riviera. When the torrent finally subsided, a gas line cracked and shot a plume of ...