Some Courtenay residents and city workers had their Good Friday disrupted after two separate water mains burst on Arden Road and Woods Avenue on March 30.
The burst on Woods Ave. occurred shortly before 11 a.m. and resulted in water damage to at least three homes.
Kyle Shaw, the manager of transportation and utilities for the City of Courtenay, said crews will continue with the repair work throughout the afternoon.
“It’s actually heaved the pavement and caused quite a bit of disturbance of the underground,” he said at about noon. “Right now, we’re just excavating to identify what exactly occurred so we can commence with the repair.
“There’s a cluster of valves in that particular location, that’s why we have the hydro-vac here, to identify it,” he added. “It appears somewhere in that connection, something let go, which is why you have the heaving of the pavement.”
Shaw said it was coincidental that two significant water main bursts happened within an hour of each other.
“The Arden one was in a separate pressure zone, so they’re unrelated but coincidental,” he said. “We’ve spoken to the CVRD with respect to the water pressures in the area. Like I said, because it’s in two different pressure zones, they’ve assured us it’s not related to any pumping facilities.”
Woods Avenue resident Anne Doyle said it appears significant water damage occurred inside her home, where the water came rushing in following the burst.
The accident resulted in her having to cancel her Good Friday plans, as well as some water damage to her landscaping and driveway.
“I was talking to the mayor. He graciously came down to see it,” she said. “He said we won’t be out of pocket and everything will be taken care of.”
