Water main break in Quincy forces workers to go home

Source: The Patriot Ledger Quincy, MA Publication date: Feb 09, 2000

QUINCY -- A water main break on Hancock Street in North Quincy forced a restaurant to close for the day and Blue Cross Blue Shield to send 400 employees home because of low water pressure.

A 10-inch-wide pipe burst beneath Hancock Street near Spruce Street at about 2 a.m. Mark Valpondo, water department foreman, said.

Workers turned off valves under the street and redirected the water so only a handful of homes and businesses in the area were without water, he said.

Blue Cross members who called with questions heard a recorded message informing them the office was closed.

Valpondo said the ruptured pipe may have caused a nearby sewer pipe to break. The basement of Tullio's Restaurant next to the break flooded with sewage, Valpondo said.

Chef Tim Rorabeck said the restaurant would be closed for today and could not open until the mess was cleaned up, the area was disinfected and the city health department made an inspection. He estimated the restaurant would lose $2,000 to $3,000 today.

Hancock Street was closed early in the morning, but single lanes going north and south were open by dawn. Valpondo said he hoped to have the pipe repaired by the evening commute. The cause of the break was undetermined.

Publication date: Feb 09, 2000 ) 2000, NewsReal, Inc.

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